The Tale of the two brothers by Chie Matsuo
by ChieMatsuo
Summary: Imagine if Naruto and Sasuke had grown up together, as close as brothers, but can old rivalries from the past threaten their friendship. Can Naruto do the thing that must be done and destroy the boy that he has regarded as a brother?
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

The tale of two brothers by Chie Matsuo

Plot: Imagine if Naruto had taken the chance to get to know sasuke from a early age and despite certain differences they became the best of friends, the hokage decides to place them in the same living apartments, as close as brothers, they both enter the academy, go through ninja training together and great battles, but can anyone ignore the hatreds and rivalries in the past, passed down by blood?

Chapter 1: Sasuke and Naruto

It was sunset on the sea port of konoha, the orange sun was reflecting nicely off the small river at a bottom of a great green hill, Naruto Uzumaki was again playing in the playing fields with his close friends Shikamaru and Chouji when, suddenly there was a shout and Shikamaru immediately stopped playing with Naruto and jumped off the playing swings.

"Oh no it's my mom" Shikamaru cursed becoming suddenly anxious and a little scared.

"What is it Shikamaru? Continue playing she won't mind" Naruto cried staring at the pineapple haired boy.

"No Naruto, I really have to go" Shikamaru replied not giving naruto a chance to protest he sprinted over to greet his mother who was not looking a bit happy.

"I see my folks coming too Naruto, cya" Chouji said and jumped off the swing also, Naruto sighed but continued to swing back and forth on the swing he was occupying, but again he could hear the usual whisperings and scoldings of the parents further away chastising their sons for again playing with the kyuubi host.

The playground slowly cleared of every living thing and a gentle breeze went through the trees making the trees flutter gracefully.

Naruto walked slowly out of the playing area a few hours later when the sun was begining to set, his shadow becoming a long line in front of him, the streets were empty as families prepared their young for an early bedtime ready for school the next day, Naruto passed the gate of a old man with small tufts of grey hair at the side of his bald head, he had a round stern face with round glasses, he was currently brushing the gangway where a large pile of leaves had gathered, he stopped when he saw Naruto and gave him his most scornful of looks, Naruto who was used to the glares just walked continued to walk pass him, the man grunted in disdain and continued brushing his front porch.

Finally Naruto came to the sea port where there was a small platform where one could look out to the horizon, Naruto as usual could see the small silhouette of Uchiha Sasuke sitting on the platform just glaring at the sea, Naruto looked at him pityingly but decided to look away quickly when the boy turned his head to look up at him, he pretended to whistle and began walking until the boy looked back at the sea, then again he continue to stare again, he was tempted to go over and say hi, but again the Uchiha looked at him, this time catching his eyes and scowling, Naruto decided then, that he wasn't going to do it, not ever, the Uchiha was his rival after all so he continued on his way home, grabbed some ramen before bed and went to bed.

The next morning Naruto awoke quite suddenly, he didn't know what woke him up but he could soon hear the sounds of shouts and cries from outside, immediately he got up and went to stand on his apartment balcony to see what all the commotion was about. The streets were jam packed with people, people with petrified faces were darting to one another asking questions and all the stores had closed down. There was an eerie silence as well, medic ninjas were being hassled for information and some medics and ANBU black ops were dashing over buildings heading towards the Uchiha estate where the lights had been turned off and it looked like a ghost town.

Naruto immediately got ready and headed outside into the crowds, he went immediately to Teuchi the ramen shop owner.

"Oi grandpa what's going on?" Naruto asked

"Oh Naruto, I'm sorry kid but the ramen shop won't be opening this morning" Teuchi began.

"No! What's going on, what's this entire ruckus about?" asked Naruto.

"Well, err, how can I say this?" whispered Teuchi to himself, he took Naruto to one side where nobody could see them.

"It's the Uchiha clan naruto, there's been a massacre, and everyone is dead" Teuchi stated a little uneasily.

"Everyone! Even sasuke?" asked Naruto.

"No he's still alive, but his traumatized, his parents have both been killed so, his a little shaken" Teuchi replied.

"Poor sasuke, what's going to happen? Is there going to be ninja lessons today?" asked naruto.

"I guess not, the hokage has given everyone the day off until this is sorted, everyone is in shock so it's to be expected" Teuchi explained, Naruto nodded in understanding then decided to go back to his apartment to practice some ninjutsu. It was the only thing he could think of to do, he had no parents, there was no way he could understand what it felt like to loose a family like that, but still he did know about loneliness and he knew that is how the Uchiha felt now. Very much alone.

A few days had passed since the massacre and Naruto growing bored of staying indoors and the constant training decided to go to the playground for some fresh air, but of course there were still people there who ran for their life when they saw him approaching so Naruto decided against going. He decided to go to the port, as he was walking he had a sudden feeling that something was not quite right, his chakra was spiralling out of control, usually the only time he had felt like this was when he had been snuck up on by a couple of kids that had beaten him to a pulp for no reason, other than the fact that he had just asked to play with them in the playgrounds. He decided to go and sit on the port to look out at the sea. He checked himself when he saw sasuke standing on the port looking at the water. He placed his hands to his mouth, about to call out when the uchiha unexpectedly threw himself into in the water!

"SASUKEEEEEEEEE!" cried Naruto and immediately sprinted towards the dockside, his breath caught in his throat, his legs felt like lead, his head was thumping as for some reason he felt the need to save sasuke, to not make him die, he dived into the water, it splashed up to greet him, to envelop his body, using all his strength and willpower naruto took himself deeper into the water, his ears were popping but he ignored that, his only goal was to get to the uchiha heir, after a few strong strokes he saw the silhouette of the boy. He was bent over, limp, didn't look like he was breathing, but ignoring the growing need of oxygen his body was craving, Naruto magically appeared at the boy's side, grabbed him around the waist and strongly swam up. It was hard, the water became like a prison, dragging him down, he needed to breathe but determinately he managed to break free, fresh air was his reward and he was back to looking at the platform where he had dived in, immediately there appeared medic nins, Jounins and ANBU black ops on the scene, some dived in to help him out with dragging sasuke back to land, the medic nins immediately grabbed sasuke and began resuscitating him.

While that was happening the ANBU next to Naruto asked sternly,

"What happened?"

"Sasuke he!" coughed Naruto, he was coughing a lot trying to rid his lungs of the water and trying to breathe normally again.

"HE WHAT!" demanded the ANBU man fiercely.

"He tried to kill himself, that's what I think, he was looking at the water and then he dived in" explained Naruto.

"It must be because of Itachi" whispered his colleague "He needs to be put back in hospital if his having suicidal tendencies still".

"Itachi" Naruto thought to himself and without thanking Naruto, the ANBU leaving naruto on the port headed back to the hospital leaving naruto in complete confusion.

"Itachi, Itachi" Naruto thought to himself as he sat naked, with only a towel around himself in his apartment, his clothes had been soaked through so he had placed them on the radiator to dry, but Naruto had been sat in confusion and turmoil ever since he came back home, he knew what loneliness could do to the person, many times he had wanted to take his own life but had been too scared to do it, the fact that sasuke, a boy that had always kept his feelings under wraps was prepared to end his life, meant that something had caused him to become like that,

"I have to find out who this guy is" Naruto said and he opened his wardrobe to get out another pair of clothes and went out into the village. The guards were kept busy outside the hospital of the building; everything was in chaos so nobody would expect him to be breaking into the village library to get information. The librarian was outside talking to the guards so naruto had time to quickly go through archives and to find the scroll on the genealogy of the Uchiha clan and quickly get out without being discovered. Back at his apartment, he opened the scroll. There was a scroll with a family tree on it which took up the whole scroll, finally Naruto sighted Itachi's name, and it was sasuke's brother! So it was sasuke's brother that did this? Naruto thought and in that moment Naruto was both pitiful of the Uchiha. He had to do something, had to see him and talk to him, for once in his life he forgot about his stupid pride and was ready to help someone other than himself.

He knocked on the hokage's office.

"Come in!" cried the hokage, Naruto opened the door, he was taken aback by how many people were inside the office, the village elders were there, Jounins, Chuunins, medic nins and so on, even some of the clan leaders from the Nara clan and the Akimichi clan,

"Ah naruto, what are you doing up at this late hour?" asked the hokage

"Can I speak to you?" asked Naruto, he didn't leave any option for a negative reply,

"Is there something wrong? I'll talk to you in a bit, wait outside the office please" replied the hokage, Naruto nodded and left the office, but he was able to hear the whispered comments that were saidm

"Was it itachi?-" before the door was opened and a guard stood outside the door, from his demeanour naruto knew he had to immediately leave the tower or be forcibly dragged out.

Later on, the guard came out to tell naruto he could see the hokage, all the officials were walking out of the office, some were giving naruto suspicious looks especially an old man with a bandage around his eye but naruto ignored him and stepped into the hokage's office,

"I know what happened" Naruto stated, the hokage was able to greet him, and then closed his mouth looking taken aback and a bit suspicious,

"Who told you?" he asked,

"Somebody" replied naruto "What's going to happen to sasuke?"

"Well when he is well enough he will be given his own quarters and will be attended to well" the hokage explained,

"Can he live with me?" asked Naruto,

"I don't think he would want that Naruto, not on top of what has been going on" the hokage said,

"Then I'll ask him then" Naruto replied and without listening to the hokage's reply dashed off to the hospital to see the Uchiha. He bought some flowers and dumplings from the store (because he knew they were sasuke's favourites) and went to the hospital. He got to the receptionists' desk and asked for Sasuke Uchiha's room,

"I'm sorry I cannot allow you to go in, sasuke is not allowed visitors unless you have the hokage's permission" the nurse explained,

"Oh please I'm just here to give him some dumplings and a hello" begged naruto,

"I'm sorry I can't, why don't you come tomorrow anyway, sasuke is asleep at the moment" the nurse said soothingly,

"Asleep? At this time?" asked Naruto suspiciously,

"He goes between sleeping and not sleeping, his a symptom of his depression" the nurse explained a little gloomily,

"Okay I'll come back tomorrow then" Naruto said and he pretended to walk out of the hospital, he hid behind a wall and waited for the nurse to into the room behind the desk, finally after about what felt like an eternity she went to photocopy some papers and as quick as lightening Naruto dashed past the reception to the room where sasuke resided in. He checked there were no guards around and knocked on the door,

"Yo Uchiha!" Naruto cried opening the door but he stopped when he saw sasuke, the young Uchiha heir was sat up in bed with his back to the door facing the window, he had no emotion on his face but was just staring at the stars he could see in the night sky,

"Err sasuke; look I bought you some dangos, your favourites!" Naruto tried again jangling the bag to catch the boy's attention, after a while of not getting an answer naruto began to turn to leave, suddenly a small crock came from behind him,

"Are they sweets? Because I hate sweets" Naruto smiling turned back and saw that sasuke was looking at him and at the bag of dangos, Naruto jumped excitedly in the air and ran over and sat a little prudently on the hospital bed beside the Uchiha and opened the bag up for him to grab a dango, sasuke took one again his eyes were cold as ice but he placed one in his mouth and silently digested it,

"The hospital food here is crap so I might as well have some decent food" sasuke mumbled, Naruto handed over the whole bag and sat there for a while, while the Uchiha pigged out.

"I heard about what happened" Naruto whispered after a while, finally he had taken it upon himself to lie down on sasuke's bed while the Uchiha feasted on his dangos. Sasuke stopped eating his eyes beginning to water but no tears were falling, Naruto could tell he was trying not to cry because of pride,

"I understand",

"OH YEAH HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW WHAT I FEEL?" roared sasuke turning on naruto who saw a glint of red in the boy's eyes,

"I know what its like to feel suddenly alone, that's what I understand" Naruto interrupted, that stopped the uchiha, there was a pause then sasuke growled,

"Itachi… I'll kill him, I'll get stronger and he will pay for this, for killing mother and father and aunty and everyone!"

"Cool can I help you then?" asked naruto,

"Don't be stupid, you're so weak" sasuke hissed,

"I can get better, I know who he is sasuke, his your brother, but he isn't because he defiled that trust you had in him by killing his own kin, I will never forgive him so I vow to avenge your family's death whether I'm with you or not!" explained Naruto with determined eyes, sasuke's eyes widened but he was still confused, looking away from the blonde boy he asked,

"Why? Why do you even care?"

"Because nobody used to care about me and it was hard for me and I don't have parents, I've always wished for parents and looking at someone that has been robbed of them makes me angry" Naruto replied passionately "So? Is it a deal then, we will both work hard and find some way to kill Itachi" he outstretched his hand for sasuke to take, but sasuke didn't, instead he whispered,

"Leave me alone, I need to rest" Naruto disappointed nodded and left the room, he waited outside for a while but sasuke didn't ask him back in so he left.

"Alright sasuke – Kun your looking very healthy so I think your about ready to go home" the nurse said as she checked sasuke's vital points, sasuke didn't speak as usual but nodded,

"You will be staying in your family quarters since everything is cleared up now" the nurse explained as she helped sasuke get dressed and led him into the reception area where two guards from the ANBU squad were waiting for him,

"His all ready then sirs" the nurse said giving them the medical sheet confirming sasuke's good health,

"That's all well miss, come on sasuke let's get you settled at your apartments" the ANBU guy said and he gently ushered sasuke out of the hospital.

They reached the uchiha residence and sasuke was amazed that everything was speck and span, but as soon as he saw the cracked Uchiha clan crest flashbacks starting jumping in front of his eyes, the image of Itachi fighting with his cousins, of seeing Itachi's weird eye, of the massacre, sasuke gasped and became still,

"Oi are you ok?" asked one of the guards,

"Yeah, yes I'm fine" sasuke replied and he took three big breathes and carried on walking to the residence, he was going to live in one of the flats that once belonged to a Uchiha member, inside it was clean and comfortable with a big bed, a small kitchen and a sitting area sasuke looked around carefully then began unpacking this things,

"Guards will be stationed outside this building all night and all day so we'll hear if there is any trouble. There will of course be a second patrol in the evening when we go off our shift but don't worry you will be safe" the ANBU guard explained giving sasuke his home keys, sasuke took them and nodded at the guard. He left and sasuke was all alone.

After unpacking his things, sasuke sat down on his bed and tried to remember what Itachi had told him to do the night of the massacre, the answer came swiftly to his mind's eye and he saw again Itachi standing before him with his sharingan activated,

"You are one of the few people who can activate the mangekyou sharingan, go to the uchiha clan secret meeting room, look under the fourth tatami mat to find the place and you will see our clan's secret" Sasuke immediately opened the window because he knew there was a back door step ladder to take him down to the ground floor, to invade the guards sasuke took this way, he went to the secret meeting hall of the clan and counted the fourth tatami mat and pulled it one side, there was a trap door underneath it, sasuke pulled it up and it hit the ground with a loud thud, it was pitch dark inside, sasuke looked around and saw around the room he was currently in a candle stick with some matches inside a bowl that supported it, he stuck a match and lit the candle, very slowly he descended the ladder alongside the dark tunnel until he came to the bottom. There was a metal door that was locked shut, it had some kind of sealing diagram on it, putting the candle on the ground sasuke took his kunai and cut his finger a bit and touched the door with it, immediately the door opened slowly, inside the room it was very small, on the far wall there was large diagrams of people that looked like old uchiha clan members and a scroll open out on a stool, sasuke approached it.

Sasuke had spent the day studying the secret scrolls of the uchiha, he arrived back home through the window at night, it was dark inside the room and sasuke was just about to turn on the lights when a kunai came charging through the darkness, sasuke immediately dodged it and fell on the ground, there was someone in the room, he came out of the shadows and sasuke was shocked to see it was an ANBU guard that was supposed to be protecting him,

"Enjoyed your little walk did you? Finally I can destroy you uchihas for good!" the guard sneered and he walked over and picked sasuke off the ground by his neck, strangling him hard he watched as sasuke began to lose conscienceness, sasuke tried to kick, bite, do anything but he was too strong, as he neared death he could see his brother and parents suddenly someone cried,

"LET HIM GO!" and the guard bucked forward slightly as a glass vase shattered over his head, he dropped sasuke and fell nearly on top of sasuke who just managed to roll sideways quickly before the man fell on him, standing behind where the man stood was Naruto looking ticked off,

"Sasuke! Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you, then I noticed this dude acting funny so I waited outside to make sure things were okay" Naruto explained,

"Naruto" sasuke chocked coughing and spluttering,

"Listen idiot it's not safe here, I'm taking you to the old man" Naruto said determinedly and he told the uchiha to pack his things quickly, sasuke obeued because he was still in shock and followed naruto to the hokage's tower,

"Why did you save me? I was fine!" sasuke cried trying to sound calm but he was close to tears, he really thought he was going to die, naruto just shrugged. They reached the hokage's tower and naruto confidently knocked on the door, a tired old voice cried,

"Come in" and naruto stepped in, the hokage was sitting behind his desk with a small pile of papers beside him, the night sky and the buildings of konoha gleamed gracefully underneath the moonlight behind him,

"Naruto! What are you doing here at this time of night?" asked the hokage a little furious and exasperated,

"Sasuke was nearly attacked at his apartment" Naruto explained,

"Don't be stupid, there's ANBU guarding him" the hokage interrupted,

"Do you want to come see?" Naruto growled, the hokage looked at naruto's determined face for a few minutes, that's when the door knocked urgently, again the hokage asked whoever was outside to come in, three ANBU guards with masks on came in, apparently in a panic,

"Lord hokage the Uchiha boy-!" they began, then they cut off when they saw that sasuke was already in the room,

"He has been attacked" said the hokage "please explain to me how this could have happened? NOW!" the ANBU guards looked beside themselves in fear and confusion.

The ANBU guards went to see who had tried to assassinate sasuke while the hokage,naruto and sasuke stayed in the office, a few hours passed when suddenly they appeared out of thin air in the room,

"Apparently some rogue ninjas tried to assassinate the uchiha, I conclude that the apartment where the uchiha resides is not safe at the moment" The ANBU with the bird mask on stated bowing in front of the hokage "I beg for your forgiveness lord hokage and you as well sasuke",

"Where do you think he should stay for the time being?" asked the hokage,

"He can stay with me!" announced naruto, there was a silence and the hokage bowed his head in silence for a while,

"Lord hokage, surely we cannot" began another masked ANBU guard with the mask of a cat on,

"Its fine, he may stay with naruto just for the time being until the apartment has been properly manned" Hokage said, there was another knock at the door and in walked a old man with black spiky hair and a bandage over one eye, he stood in the doorway unsure whether he should enter, he saw sasuke and his eyes narrowed,

"What has happened sarutobi, I heard the uchiha boy was attacked" the man croaked,

"Where did you get that information?" asked the hokage,

"It doesn't matter" stated the man "I'll speak to you another time then" and with that he left the office slowly, the hokage looked suspiciously at the man then back at naruto,

"Come on then, get sasuke settled in naruto, it's very late now" naruto nodded and escorted sasuke out of the office.

"Home sweet home" cried naruto as he opened the door of his apartment, it was a little musty and dark but sasuke thought it was liveable,

"Well let's see, I guess there's only one bed" Naruto sighed scratching his head,

"I'm taking the bed" stated sasuke coldly; naruto looked disappointedly at his moth eaten couch,

"Oh well, I can always order a new bed tomorrow I guess hehe" sasuke sat on the hard bed and looked around,

"Do you want some ramen?" asked naruto excitedly "it can be served warm and it always help me to sleep",

"What is ramen?" asked sasuke,

"Hold on" said naruto and dashed into the kitchen, he opened the fridge and scrambled around looking for some cereal bowls then he opened the ramen and stabbed the cellophane lid and put it in the microwave, it was a while before he sensed a presence and saw sasuke standing beside him looking at what he was doing,

"Thank you naruto" he whispered, naruto's eyes widened, seriously he couldn't believe sasuke had said those words, usually he belittled naruto and called him names,

"It's cool" naruto replied and smiled widely, sasuke still hadn't smiled but naruto thought there was still time to work on that. The microwave beeped and naruto took out the ramen, he gave one bowl to sasuke (who panicked slightly when his hands nearly was burnt) and one for himself, he then literally jumped to the eating table, placed his hands together and cried,

"Time to chow down!" and began gobbling it down, sasuke took a little bite of it, then he stopped eating, naruto looked up to see if something was wrong, sasuke walked pass him over towards the bin then began spooning it into the bin,

"HEY THAT WAS EXPENSIVE YOU KNOW!" roared naruto his mouth half full of ramen, but he gulped when sasuke shot him a dark look,

"It tastes like shit!" naruto's eyes narrowed but he shrugged and just continued to eat, but inside he was smiling and so too was the uchiha.

Naruto next had to prepare sasuke's bed because the uchiha threatened to return to the uchiha residence happily welcoming death when he saw the state of naruto's bed sheets, so naruto had become a cleaning lady and was preparing the bed whilst sasuke decorated his bedroom,

"Do you seriously need this?" asked the uchiha picking up naruto's calendar which had a picture of a bikini clad woman,

"AGH! You leave that alone, it reminds me when I have my next graduation" cried naruto craning his head around to see what the boy was holding, sasuke thought he might need it too and left it, next he placed a picture of his family on the window sill, he stayed for a moment looking at it causing naruto to scuffle uncomfortably until he had found a few pillows and wished the uchiha goodnight,

"Goodnight" sasuke whispered but he was still standing when naruto turned off the lights.


	2. Chapter 2: The bell test

The tale of the two brothers

Chapter 2: The bell test

"Wake up moron!" shouted sasuke in naruto's ears a few years late, it was the day of graduation but Naruto was found as usual spread on his own bed instead of the couch with his legs spread wide and his mouth open snoring loudly, naruto opened one eye and saw sasuke's frustrated face looking at him, he rolled over and said,

"Just five more minutes sasuke"

"You idiot! And I thought you said we were going to get stronger to beat Itachi! I'm not making you make me miss this graduation, I'm sorry" sasuke ranted and left the apartment, as he was closing the door naruto finally sat bolt upright and yawned.

Naruto arrived a few hours after sasuke but was luckily not late, sasuke sat talking to chouji and shikamaru who naruto had introduced him to when they were younger,

"Naruto what are you doing here? This isn't a class for drop outs!" shikamaru said,

"You see this, you see this? It's a regulated headband shikamaru, from now on we'll be working together!" naruto said pointing to his headband,

"How do you live with him?" asked shikamaru and sasuke just said,

"I can always beat him up when he gets annoying",

"Who tied who up with my shadow clones huh, don't try to act big sasuke" Naruto interrupted, sasuke sent naruto evil eyes and they both continued to stare at each other but their eyes softened and they just turned away and grinned. The door to the classroom opened and in charged Ino and Sakura again huffing and puffing, Naruto immediately blushed but soon turned bright red in anger when sakura and ino dashed over to congratulate sasuke on graduating from the academy,

"I'm sitting next to Sasuke Kun billboard head!" Ino screamed trying to push sakura out of the way,

"It's okay sakura you can sit next to him, I'm moving" Naruto sighed and got up to leave the two kunoichis to fight over sasuke,

"AH naruto" sasuke began but shut up quickly when sakura finally won the battle and sat down beside him with a huge grin across her face.

"Alright everyone settle down, welcome to your induction on your paths to becoming shinobi, I'm very proud that all of you was able to make it through from the academy" Iruka began a few hours later "Now this is where the real training begins and to start of, each genin will each be put in a team of 3"

"A team of 3?" the class queried,

"Exactly and each squad will be run by a Jounin" Iruka continued, "Now can I have everyone's attention while I call out the groups",

"Man I hope I'm in sakura's team" Naruto thought to himself "Please God just grant me this one wish",

"Team seven" Iruka bellowed after a few minutes "Sakura haruno, Naruto uzumaki and sasuke Uchiha" Naruto cursed his luck when sasuke's name was mentioned, of course they had lived together for years and the uchiha heir was a bit like a brother to him but still he was likely to overshadow him and naruto was ticked off that his wishes to have sakura to himself had been thwarted, he looked across at sasuke who had his hands to his chin, his eyes narrowed in irritation, Naruto sighed because he knew sasuke was gritting his teeth in anger because the Uchiha was not used to working together in teams except if they were sparring.

"Man! I nearly fell asleep in there" Sasuke said as they walked out of the classroom for a short break, they were to meet their jounin squad leader in a couple of minutes and iruka had let the class out to stretch their legs,

"Tell me about it, me too" Naruto replied,

"I bet you soon woke up when sakura's name was mentioned" Sasuke teased, naruto stood still in his tracks trying not to blush, trying to look tough in front of his uchiha brother,

"Am I right or wrong?" sasuke prompted,

"I don't like her, anyway she likes someone else" Naruto whispered and tried not to look at sasuke, sasuke sighed,

"All the girls here are ridiculous, they train to be ninjas and all they do is drool all over me, but I have no time for that, I have to train hard and become a good enough shinobi to defeat Itachi" Sasuke explained "So you can have her naruto, but try not to be so pushy, be aloof like me, act like you don't notice her, some girls like a guy that can stand on his two feet and who isn't drooling like a hound whenever they see them" Naruto listened carefully to what the uchiha was saying and nodded and decided to listen to him more,

"Oh no here she comes" Sasuke cursed as a girly scream came from behind them and sakura came walking up to sasuke, completely ignoring the blonde haired naruto,

"Sasuke I was thinking do you want to go for some lunch together? Since we're a team you know" sakura asked shyly,

"Sure, but can naruto come along too?" asked sasuke,

"Oh erm, okay, hi naruto" sakura muttered but inside, her other half was cursing loudly that naruto would just get in the way,

"Hi" Naruto said coldly trying to be as aloof to the fact that his crush was talking to him, sakura was taken aback at first since the blonde haired kid usually pestered her to go out with him, maybe he was starting to finally get that she wasn't interested,

"Come on then, naruto, sakura" Sasuke said trying to break the uncomfortable silence "We'll go to the dumpling store",

"Oh ok sasuke Kun" Sakura replied beaming so much she could blind someone.

They arrived at the dumpling store and ordered some dumplings and some small appetizers,

"So sasuke Kun, who do you think our new teacher will be?" asked sakura "I heard jounins are very powerful ninjas so he/she has to be strong",

"I haven't a clue, but I hope he/she is very powerful" Sasuke replied while he bit into his dumpling "Who do you think it will be naruto?" naruto snapped out of his reverie and began to think,

"All the jounins we haven't met so I don't know, all the teachers I've been close to is Iruka sensei" Naruto replied,

"What is the thing you guys have anyway, its so uncool hanging out with teachers even an academy student knows that" Sakura snarled, Naruto blushed with embarrassment but sasuke interrupted,

"Iruka is like a father figure to naruto, naruto has no parents so it's natural that he wants someone to confide in",

"So who do you confide in sasuke?" asked sakura coyly moving closer to sasuke, touching him on the lap, sasuke unsettled by this act of flirtation simply moved his leg away,

"I don't need anyone" sasuke replied coldly, sakura felt hurt as well as naruto that sasuke hadn't even mentioned his name, the uchiha carried on biting into his dumplins.

"Let's get back to the classroom, 15 minutes is up" Sasuke said and got up quickly and started to walk back to the classroom leaving sakura and naruto at the table,

"Are you coming then?" asked naruto standing up, suddenly the glass of water he had been drinking from tipped and split over sakura, sakura leapt up screaming and tried to dry herself with her napkin,  
>"I'm so sorry sakura Chan, are you alright?" asked naruto trying to wipe her down with his napkin,<br>"no no no! Naruto leave me alone!" she screamed and leapt up but before she went she turned to him and spat "God you're so annoying!" Naruto immediately felt deflated and he sat back down and watched her leave chasing after sasuke, as always.

"Sasuke, you" naruto mumbled and tried not to cry.

"Oh my days, where is this guy?" asked sakura angrily after all the groups had gone and their jounin sensei was still not here, sasuke and naruto was sitting down, sasuke nearly half asleep and naruto with his legs on the desk, after a moment naruto starting smiling to himself,

"What are you laughing at dope?" asked sasuke hitting naruto harmlessly over the head,

"Time for prank time!" Naruto cried and leapt up off his seat, sasuke was about to protest but decided against it. When naruto was like this it was best not to stand in his way. Anyway, sasuke had learnt that naruto's idiotic ways had advantages too, sasuke was also curious to see how powerful this jounin was, Naruto got a blackboard rubber and, standing on a chair he placed it in between the door so that when someone opened it, it will immediately fall on top of their heads,

"Naruto that is the most idiotic prank I have ever seen!" Sakura cried "Do you really think a jounin is going to fall for that?" suddenly the door knob of the classroom door began to turn, all three genins looked up apprehensive and a man with spiky grey hair with half of his face bandaged poked his head through the door, suddenly, the rubber fell on top of his head and onto the ground.

"HEHEHEHE! I got him, I really got him, and you fell for it you sucker!" Naruto laughed as their new teacher looked sheepishly and emotionlessly straight at them for a few minutes.

"I'm so sorry sensei, I tried to stop him, I would never do that!" spluttered sakura "Please don't punish sasuke and I for naruto's stupidity" their new teacher bent down and picked up naruto's blackboard rubber, there was a silence then he said in a monotonously voice,

"Hmm let me think, my first impression of this group is"

Sasuke, sakura and naruto looked at him apprehensive about the judgement he was about to give.

"You're a bunch of idiots" he finished simply.

Their new teacher took them outside for a group meeting because he needed fresh air, they found themselves near a arch where a couple of steps were set overlooking the whole village, kakashi was sat on the rails, he coughed and he said,

"Ok let us first start with some introductions"

"Introductions? What do you mean?" asked sakura as usual very sharp for answers.

"Like your name, what you like and what you hate, your goals for the future, those kind of stuff" the man explained.

"Then why don't you go first sensei, just to show us how it's done" sakura replied,

"Me? I am Kakashi hatake, things I like and things I hate…. I don't feel like telling you that, my hobbies, I have plenty of hobbies, my dreams for the future, never thought of that" the mysterious Jounin rambled on

Sakura turned to the two boys sitting behind her,

"That was good, he only told us his name" Sakura whispered sarcastically,

"Okay you guys are next, first one, you on the left, go" Kakashi said suddenly pointing to naruto.

"My name is Naruto uzumaki, I like… ramen, my hobbies are eating ramen, I hate the ten minutes you have to wait to heat up ramen in the microwave and my future dream is, is to become the greatest hokage, then the village will stop looking down on me and treat me like I'm somebody, somebody important" Naruto replied passionately fists at the ready looking for anything to challenge him and his dreams, sasuke smiled to himself. Sasuke knew all about naruto's determination to be hokage and the strange strength that lay inside him, of course naruto never knew that sasuke was aware of this power, the power of the nine tail's demon fox.

flashback

_Sasuke needed to get to naruto before the ninja came after him, the stupid fool had taken the secret scroll of the first hokage probably trying to get one or two cool jutsus out of it, he had been hiding onto of the hokage's building in the trees when the hokage that given the order for naruto to be hunted down and brought in for questioning. He didn't know what that "questioning" would be, but he knew it wasn't good. He went straight to the outbuilding place where naruto usually trained, he knew instinctly that the blonde kid would be there, upon stumbling across it in the trees he heard voices and went immediately into hiding, he sighed relief though because it was just Iruka and Naruto together, talking in the clearing,_

"_Listen Iruka sensei, I'm going to show you this amazing jutsu and your going to let me pass this test, that's the way it is isn't it?, whoever learns a jutsu from this scroll passes" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes blazing in excitement, sasuke became suddenly curious then, what new jutsu had the number one knuckle head learnt? what secret was he keeping from the uchiha?,_

"_Huh how did you find that out?" asked Iruka,_

"_Mizuki sensei told me, he told me where to find the scroll and everything!" cried naruto signalling to the scroll on his back to show his sensei, he was so naïve that it was dangerous because sasuke sensed another's presence and was shocked when kunais were thrown quickly towards Iruka's body, Iruka had time to push naruto out of the way just in time, sasuke was then shocked to see another academy teacher Mizuki standing where he reckoned the kunais were thrown from._

"_Naruto give me the scroll!" demanded Mizuki slightly panicked._

"_Huh what's going on?" asked Naruto looking from the greed ridden Chuunin to his beloved sensei who was pinned to the hut behind them, kunais in his arms, legs and sides, Iruka pulled out one kunai, threw it to one side and cried,_

"_Naruto don't give it to him, Mizuki lied to you, he only wanted the scroll for himself, for his own power!" Naruto looked back at Mizuki in anger,_

"_Oh I'll tell you whose really lying" Mizuki began spitefully,_

"_NO Mizuki! Don't tell him its forbidden!" Iruka shouted in vain,_

"_They've been lying to you all your life, since the decree five years ago, everyone knows it but you" Mizuki began coldly,_

"_What decree, why does everyone else know about it except me?" asked naruto desperately, unbelievably, sasuke was curious too, his heart was beating wondering if he should be hearing this,_

"_Nobody can tell you that the nine tailed fox is inside you!" Mizuki stated, Naruto and sasuke's eyes widened in fear, sasuke thought to himself, he had heard about the kyuubi from his clan's secret scroll, something about the sharingan being able to control them, fate had blessed him with a weapon he could finally use against his brother, but he continued to listen._

_He followed the ninjas every move, saw naruto performed an advanced shadow clone jutsu and he was finally able to see him as an equal, a shinobi in his own right, but he swore to himself never to reveal had he had seen to anybody, he would use naruto to help him with his revenge and also as a stepping stone to test his own abilities when the time came._

_end flashback_

"Ok, next" Kakashi asked,

"I'm sakura haruno, I like" began sakura, she paused and thought about how sasuke had said that he wasn't looking for love and wasn't looking for a girlfriend so she said "I like the medical side of ninja training I want to be a good medic nin like the legendary sannin tsunade",

"Ok next" Kakashi said

"I'm sasuke Uchiha, I don't like nothing much except training hard, I have plenty of dislikes but my dream is to restore my clan and to destroy a certain someone" Sasuke said nervously shocking sakura a bit, naruto looked at his friend understandably and after sasuke had finished his introduction he looked at naruto and they both knew what the other was thinking, sakura saw this look and again was curious about what was so special about naruto?

"Ok that was a great introduction" Kakashi said "Now onto business, time to tell you about our next mission",

"What kind of mission?" asked naruto excitedly,

"This is a survival exercise, but a bit more difficult compared to the ones you have undertaken in the academy, this time you will do battle against me" Kakashi replied, the three genin were mystified,

"And" began kakashi again bringing them back from their thoughts "I must explain to you how important passing this test is",

"Why what will happen if we fail?" asked sakura,

"You are sent back to the academy" Kakashi stated. There was silence,

"Then why wasn't this part of the graduation test? Why pass us then?" complained sakura,

"Oh that. That was to choose candidates that might pass the test, that had the potential, but the statistics of you passing this test is 45% meaning that one in each group will go back to the academy, anyway I won't tell you the details until tomorrow, meet me at training ground 1, in the morning, eat no breakfast" Kakashi explained,

"Why?" asked naruto naively,

"Because you will throw up" Kakashi said.

"GAH! I can't even eat my ramen!" naruto cried as he twirled his chopsticks through this ramen bowl later that night, sasuke was sitting on the living room floor going through his jutsu scrolls practising hand seals,

"Just keep calm" sasuke replied his eyes closed practising seals for jutsus,

"What happens if we don't pass? Sasuke I'll never live it down, we promised to be strong to defeat Itachi" naruto mumbled, sasuke stopped training and sat down heavily on the chair opposite naruto,

"Naruto!" he said sternly, naruto looked at sasuke,

"You have the greatest amount of stamina, even more than me, you can create massive amounts of shadow clones and you have guts, you are uniquely designed to get through anything, so whether you win or loose tomorrow it doesn't matter, I'll have your back tomorrow ok I promise" Sasuke lectured, Naruto just continued to stare at the Uchiha knowing that the uchiha had never outlined naruto's potential ever, he felt again close to tears that someone believed in him and trusted him, he nodded,

"Your right, come tomorrow evening we will be definitely team seven" Naruto replied punching his fist in the air,

"Now cook me something else to eat" sasuke demanded giving naruto the evil eyes, Naruto nearly choked on his noodles and replied,

"What do you mean cook me something? I'm not your slave boy you know! Get something in town I always cook",

"Ramen is crap, I'm not eating that before anything!" sasuke retorted, they continued to bicker like an old married couple into the night as kakashi who was sitting on a tree smiles to himself.

Dawn arrived and sasuke and naruto were seen heading towards the ninja training grounds,

"Whatever happens naruto, remember no stupid moves and remember I have your back" sasuke whispers to his blonde haired friend,

"Ok I've heard you for the one thousandth time!" Naruto grumbles, he was still feeling a little sleepy from the other night; they arrived at the grounds and saw sakura sitting on the grass nodding off

"Sakura" sasuke called, sakura awoke as quickly as lightening and turned to sasuke,

"Sasuke, naruto, thank God you guys are here, this is the right training grounds isn't it?" she asked a little anxiously,

"What? Of course sakura, why?" asked sasuke and looked around "Where's kakashi?"

"He hasn't arrived yet, but I guess we're still early so there's no need to worry yet" Sakura replied, sasuke and naruto looked at each other confusion evident in their eyes, but they shrugged and sat down on the grass beside sakura.

Time passed, hours passed and the sun had already risen but still kakashi hadn't shown up, the group had nearly fell asleep when the silver haired Jounin appeared out of thin air in front of them,

"Hi guys it's a lovely morning isn't it?" kakashi observed innocuously,

"HEY you're late!" shouted sakura and naruto together,

"Oh I'm sorry about that, there was a black cat in my path so I had to redirect my journey here" Kakashi explained rubbing his hair nervously, he coughed and continued

"Now I see your all here, let's begin"

Kakashi dug into his trouser pockets, sasuke and naruto went immediately into battle stances but kakashi ignored their nervousness and pulled out two bells,

"The aim of this exercise is to get these bells off me, don't hesitate to come at me with the intention of killing me" kakashi said,

"But sensei, there are only two bells, does this mean that one of us will be going back to the academy if we don't get one?" asked sakura, sasuke tensed and looked at naruto, naruto looked at sasuke terrified,

"Yes it does, that person will be tied to the log and sent back, you have until lunchtime" Kakashi replied

"That should be easy as you weren't able to dodge my blackboard eraser!" Naruto laughed scornfully,

"Class clowns are usually class losers, I can easily ignore your abilities" Kakashi retorted, Naruto's face went red and sasuke sensed that the blonde wasn't going to take that in his stride, he was about to turn and warn naruto but the blonde haired kid had sprinted towards kakashi, kunai already in his hand, as coolly and as quickly as lightening kakashi vanished just as naruto was able to stab him and ended up behind the boy, he had him in a simple arm lock and was standing behind him,

"Calm down I haven't even said begin" kakashi remarked sternly, Naruto was huffing and puffing in anger but he calmed down enough to let kakashi let go of him,

"Ok it looks like you guys are actually serious about killing me, that's good, I'm starting to like the sound of you guys already" Kakashi complimented, the three genins smiled.

"Time to begin, 3, 2, 1 SCATTER!" Kakashi commanded and at once they scattered, as they flew through the trees to find a safe hiding place sasuke said,

"Naruto let's stick together, I think I know a plan that might work against him!"

"Its cool sasuke, I'll deal with this jerk!" Naruto fumed and immediately he vanished from view,

"NO NARUTO!" Sasuke shouted "That idiot!" and with that he went immediately into hiding.

"Shinobi ninja tactics number one, the art of stealth" Kakashi whispered to himself looking at the trees that surrounded the training grounds trying to work out where his three students were hiding,

"OI I'M OVER HERE BIG HAIR!" shouted a kid's voice, Kakashi turned around and saw Naruto standing behind him, his arms crossed looking defiant,

"You know you should really be hiding?" said kakashi sheepishly scratching his head,

"And do YOU know you should have a new haircut!" Naruto replied back and he began sprinting towards kakashi again. Kakashi sighed this was going to be an easy exercise.

"WHY YOU, NOT AGAINNN!" Naruto screamed as he was found hanging upside down from a tree a few moments later, he had tried to get Kakashi with shadow clones from the ground and even in the sea and had thought the jounin had accidentally dropped a bell and was stupid enough to fall for it and now he was being lectured by the jounin on "looking underneath the underneath" again!

"I'm only telling you this because you DON'T know!" Kakashi rambled on, suddenly a volley of shuriken came out of the trees and shot through the air, one caught the string that had naruto by the shoe and broke it to set naruto free, the rest flew straight into kakashi's body, naruto summersaulted so as not to set off any more traps that were probably underneath him he fell crouched on the ground just in time to see the shurikens hit their sensei,

"Sasuke! You jerk, you've murdered him!" Naruto screamed waving his arms in panic but suddenly there was a cloud of smoke and there was a log where the supposed dead body of kakashi ought to be,

"He used a shadow clone" Naruto observed, naruto looked around and saw a black outline heading through the trees,

"Sasuke" Naruto whispered and began to follow the mysterious figure.

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Screamed a girl's voice, sasuke turned around in panic and realised that was sakura's voice,

"Sakura, he must have discovered where she was hiding, I told her to change locations but did she listen?, I guess I'm the only one that can get these bells after all" sasuke commented,

"Really my sasuke?" asked a voice, sasuke turned around and saw kakashi leaning against a tree up ahead,

"I'm not like the others, don't underestimate me" Sasuke snarled,

"Those are big words coming from someone so puny" Kakashi said, sasuke's hands went immediately to his kunai holster and he sent two kunais towards kakashi, kakashi dodged but his feet snapped a wire and a few kunais were about to puncture him but he was able to vanish and reappear someone else, suddenly he sensed another presence and turned in time to block a punch sent by sasuke who had moved so fast he had appeared behind him, sasuke sent another punch with his other fist but kakashi blocked that too, he spiralled and sent a kick so that his legs was locked over kakashi's neck locking him in place,

"What are you trying to gain by doing this? Please do tell" asked kakashi chocking slightly,

"you'll soon see, NARUTO NOW!" sasuke screamed and kakashi just wasn't quick enough to see a hand grab the bells from around his belt area and see naruto rolling head over in the ground unbalanced by the sheer speed of the action, sasuke removed his legs from around kakashi's neck and kicked out hard sending the jounin skidding backwards into the ground. When kakashi stood up he saw the two smiling boys looking back at him a bell in each hand,

"Oh boy I guess you two have a bell, I guess sakura will be sent back to the academy then" Kakashi said standing up, naruto immediately felt saddened just as sakura came running into the area looking scared,

"Sasuke oh sasuke! Your alright, I thought you had been killed" Sakura cried but then she saw them with the bells and her face fell "You found the bells" naruto couldn't bear to see the love of his life coming close to tears and he looked at his hands that held the bells,

"That's right sakura and I think it's the rightful people that have the bells, not once did you try to help naruto, you just followed sasuke and fainted when you thought he was dying" kakashi explained, sakura was silently crying now but suddenly her tears stopped, Kakashi and sasuke were in shock because it was naruto that was stretching out his hands offering sakura his bell,

"Naruto what are you doing? She lost!" hissed sasuke, sakura looked hurt when sasuke said that but she couldn't stop looking at naruto who was literally throwing his dreams away,

"But why?" asked sakura, there was a pause as everyone including kakashi wanted to know,

"Because sakura this test isn't fair, were all a team and if your not passing it with us I'm not going to let you go back to the academy alone, I rather go back to the academy and graduate again, your smarter than me sakura, passed every test and now because of a little eye trickery you have to go back to the academy? But hey, it's fine, there's always next year" Naruto explained his eyes closed and a wide grin across his face,

"Naruto." sasuke whispered, he thought about Itachi, how he was willing to slaughter his entire kinsman because of power, was he really ready to let his best friend do this?

"Well then naruto I guess I have to tell you the truth then" Kakashi said "Because you have failed this test you are not going to be a ninja again!" Naruto stood there as if he hadn't heard those last words; instead he stepped towards sakura and pressed the bells into her hands,

"If being a ninja means abandoning your teammates, then I don't think I want to be a ninja, that rule is scum and I refuse to be part of a system that supports that" Naruto replied back, looking at Kakashi now with determined eyes, Kakashi looked shocked, there was silence, then kakashi began to giggle,

"Huh what's so funny?" asked sakura looking tense,

"You guys…. Pass" Kakashi replied after a dramatic pause before the final word, there was silence. Total silence. The wind blew through the trees making them shiver but still the world seemed unreal to naruto, had Kakashi really said those words?

"YAY YAY!" Sakura screamed jumping in the air "We pass, we pass!"

"REALLY YOU MEAN IT YOU MEAN IT, YAY, YAY!" Naruto cried running like a little kid around the area, sasuke stood rooted to the spot but inside he was happy,

"So I have done it" he thought to himself,

"That's right you all pass, starting tomorrow this team begins their first mission!" Kakashi announced "Let's grab something to eat",

"Ramen, please, make it be ramen" Naruto squeaked tears streaming down his face silently.

"What a day huh" said naruto hands behind his head as he and sasuke walked towards their apartment, it was dark, nobody was out much and the only thing that lightened their path was a single street lamp, their footsteps were echoes and there a weird silence between them,

"Naruto would you really have gone back to the academy?" asked sasuke,

"Of course, you can't just have two bells, they pitted us against each other, it's not fair, every genin deserved to graduate because they worked so hard, even sakura" Naruto said his fists clenched in determination,

"So you would have sacrificed our dream of defeating Itachi?" asked sasuke suddenly standing still, naruto stopped walking, it was the usual argument between them that always threatened their friendship,

"Sakura didn't murder your family, sasuke, you can't view everyone as an enemy just because they haven't got the same plans we have" Naruto began,

"Answer my question, never do that again naruto, you know how much this means to me, how much I cannot find peace until that bastard is dead" growled sasuke, naruto looked at sasuke and nodded in understanding, the uchiha heir then overtook and walked towards the apartments not talking at all to naruto.


	3. Chapter 3: The land of waves

The tale of the two brothers

Chapter 3: The mission to the land of waves

The next day when naruto awoke he saw that sasuke had already left, scratching his head he made his way to the kitchen to open up a packet of ramen for breakfast, he immediately stopped dead in his tracks, sasuke had left out a cup of ramen for him with a fork beside it and a piece of paper beside it, naruto picked up the piece of paper and read it,

"Looks like his gone straight ahead to mission briefing, AGH! I'm late!" Naruto said panicked and he quickly ran back into the room, got dressed and dashed out of the apartments, he reckoned he could get some ramen after the briefing.

"Naruto in position"

"Sakura in position, ready when you are sensei"

"Me too" Sasuke piped up

"Ok team seven, mission to rescue pet tora is a go!" Kakashi commanded and naruto immediately leapt out of the trees and grabbed the waist of a lost cat with a red ribbon on his left ear, whilst naruto was ripped apart by the reluctant feline, sasuke radioed in to kakashi to announce that the mission was a success.

"Oh Tora, mother missed you so so much!" The wife of the fire country's daimyo cried when her precious pet was returned to her, naruto who had scratches all over his face smiled proudly watching the reunion with glee,

"HAHAHA! That cat is getting exactly what he deserves" Naruto remarked,

"You should probably get ointment for those scratches Naruto" Sakura said, ever since the blonde haired boy offered her one of his bells while the love of her life was quite happy to make her go back to the academy sakura had decided to be a lot more nicer to naruto, naruto looked at sakura taken aback but scratched his head and told her he was fine,

"Okay, the next mission for team seven!" declared the hokage who was sitting behind a line of tables at the far end of the room, he pulled open a scroll and began reading monotonously from it,

"Babysitting the major's nephew, running errands for the local lord"

"HOLD ONNN!" exclaimed Naruto, the hokage stopped reading the scroll and looked up, naruto was leaning in nose to nose with the hokage,

"Naruto come back over here" Kakashi warned but naruto was not having any of it,

"I want decent missions, not this baby stuff, I want a real challenge!" demanded naruto pounding his fists on the table,

"It looks like you don't understand the meaning of these missions and the level you are at this exact moment" The hokage observed,

"And I think you don't understand that I'm a ninja now, not a puny academy student, I deserve a real challenge, with battles and assassinations!" cried naruto back stubbornly, the hokage held up the scroll he was previously reading,

"These "D" rank missions are for genin ninja, the higher missions like A, B and C are only for chunnins and jounins" The hokage summarised so that naruto could understand,

"MAN! I don't need lectures and I don't want to be treated like a kid, I'm a ninja for heaven sakes, give us more challenging missions!" Naruto said ignoring what the hokage just told him,

"Ok then, NARUTO!" The hokage said and naruto stopped speaking, the room went quiet and the hokage chuckled,

"Since you want a real mission, I'll give you a C rank mission then, you are going to escort a certain person back to their country"

"Who is this person, who who?" asked naruto excitedly "A princess?, a feudal lord?, WHOOOO!"

"Come in!" called the hokage, the door behind them opened and in walked an old man with a huge beer belly and white hair with black glasses set anew on his face, he looked flushed and he was evidently drunk because he had a empty bottle of sake in his hands,

"Huh what the hell is this? Kids! I asked for ninjas not snot nosed runts!" grunted the man offensively and he took another swig of his sake

"And I hope you're not telling me that, that small one there with the idiotic look on his face is a ninja?"

"HAHA whose the idiot with the idiotic look on his face?" asked Naruto boisterously, sasuke and sakura stood beside him and immediately naruto got that the insult was aimed at him.

"YOU PUNK, I'LL RIP YOU TO PIECES!" shouted naruto lunging towards the stranger but kakashi held him back by holding onto the back of his jacket.

"Right Mr Bridge builder this is your lucky day, you have the best squad a man trying to get safely home can have, I am Naruto uzumaki, future hokage and the most powerful ninja in the village hidden in the leaves, Kakashi sensei is our jounin sensei, very powerful, also you have my brother from another mother sasuke who is the most gifted new genin in the village and sakura haruno who is secretly in love with me!" Naruto cried.

As they stepped out of the village, they had took no further than three steps when naruto was determined to prove to the bridge builder who was the boss by turning around and giving him his long lecture of self confidence, but this plan backfired when the bridge builder erupted into laughter as soon as the words left naruto's mouth.

"Future hokage? Yeah right, the day that you're hokage I'll become the fire lord of this country!" Naruto's finger that was pointed at the bridge builder was slowly lowered then his face went red and kakashi again had to stop naruto from soccer punching the life out of their client.

"There is no way a puny squirt like you can be hokage "The bridge builder continued to taunt but he wouldn't be insulting his new bodyguards if he knew that two mysterious figures were watching them from the trees above.

"Mr Tazuna, you're from the land of the waves right?" asked sakura as they had at last started their journey,

"Yeah what of it?" asked Tazuna moodily,

"Kakashi sensei" Sakura said rounding on her sensei, "The land of waves doesn't have a ninja village do they?"

"No they don't need a ninja village because their country has its own protection: the water. But in many other countries ninjas have to reside, like in the land of fire, water, air and earth, the leaders of these countries have the tittle hokage, they are called the five kages and they are the most powerful ninjas in the whole ninja world" Kakashi explained,

"Oh so lord hokage is that powerful then?" asked sakura in complete awe, Kakashi nodded, behind tazuna, kakashi and sakura walked sasuke and naruto together, naruto with his head down still sulking over tazuna's insult about him not being able to become hokage and sasuke as always being visual, looking closely at the bridge builder's reactions,

"So this mission isn't very dangerous is it sensei?" asked sasuke "The most we will be coming across is bandits and highwaymen right?"

"Yes of course, this is a C rank mission, if there are other ninjas for example the mission wouldn't be classed as a C rank then" Kakashi replied, the bridge builder slowed down and that was what sasuke was waiting for,

"Naruto" sasuke whispered,

"Huh what?" replied naruto,

"A ninja is always prepared for a battle, remember that" sasuke whispered so loud that only naruto will remember,

"Of course sasuke, you always tell me that jeez" naruto hissed.

It was coming to the hottest part of the day, they crossed over a small bridge and passed a small puddle, naruto looked down but sasuke stopped him by saying,

"Don't look, I agree it's suspicious",

"So what? There is someone out there?" asked naruto silently, before sasuke was able to answer Kakashi was suddenly bound in chains and two masked figures had sprinted pass sasuke and naruto towards kakashi, together they pulled the chains and tore kakashi to pieces, limbs and blood scattered everywhere, sakura screamed and naruto became frozen,

"NARUTO SNAP OUT OF IT, GET INTO POSITION!" sasuke screamed, naruto nodded and as sasuke sprinted towards the two opponents naruto and sakura teamed up to guard Tazuna, sasuke threw a few shuriken and kunai to distract the two men, then he jumped in the air and threw a shuriken and kunai to trap their chains so they couldn't move, they were in the perfect spot near a tree, they couldn't break free and sasuke landed on their body and sent a hard kick towards the back of their heads releasing them from their chains, but it didn't stop them there, they immediately went towards naruto,

"Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto screamed and immediately a few of his clones were beside him, immediately they were able to grab hold of each of the men to hold them in place, suddenly out of nowhere kakashi appeared catching them in a stranglehold chocking them into inaction,

"Kakashi sensei!" all three genin cried, Kakashi looked at the men in his grasp and smiled approvingly at his team.

With the group's help Kakashi was able to bind the two men to the tree where their chains lay useless,

"Mr Tazuna I need a word with you" Kakashi stated,

"What! Why me?" asked Tazuna alarmed,

"Because I need to know why two chuunin ninjas are after a bridge builder when this is clearly a C rank mission, chuunins are sent to assassinate, to not leave a trace of their enemy behind, of course I knew this but I let these men attack you guys to get some more information" Kakashi replied,

"How did you know?" asked one of the chuunin siblings,

"A puddle on a dry day? When it hasn't rained in days, come on you have no idea who you're trying to kid, but the reason I left you to my students was because I needed to know who you guys were after, whether it was ninjas attacking ninjas or if it was you, tazuna, they were after" Kakashi explained and then looked at tazuna, tazuna stood there without replying and kakashi narrowed his eyes in suspicion,

"Why would you lie to us? You heard me when I answered sasuke's question, genins cannot cope with these missions, you've put us all in danger today",

"Please I will tell you everything but it has to be when I'm travelling back to my country, I'll tell you everything you need to know but I'am desperate, you can choose to abandon the mission when I tell you the truth" Tazuna replied gravely, Kakashi thought this over for a moment then nodded.

"Very well"

In an isolated forest, hidden by trees stood a lonely looking hut, inside the door could be heard slamming furiously behind a old short squat man with a shock of grey hair, round glasses wearing a business suit and carrying a long black walking stick in his hand,

"What the hell has happened?" snarled the man pointing at a shadowy figure sitting in the shadows at the other end of the dark room, a slight movement from the right of the silhouette caught the squat man's attention and he shouted,

"Hold it right there! Remember I have bodyguards" as soon as he said that a tall man wearing a bandana appeared at his shoulder, the mysterious figure beside the other one relaxed immediately,

"Relax Gatou, do you remember who I am? I am Zabuza the demon of the hidden mist village" said a cold husky voice from the shadows that was sitting on a chair.

"Yeah yeah, I'll believe it! When I see it! apparently your boys failed the assassinated attempt on that bridge builder, you better send out someone else before I give you the boot!" snarled Gatou, suddenly he nearly screamed when a sharp sword extended as quick as lightening towards him but stopped just inches from his throat,

"Be prepared to pay me when I come back from exterminating this bastard, that's it, I'm going to go myself to finish it, once and for all" Zabuza hissed.

The end


	4. Chapter 4: The assassin of the mist

The tale of the two brothers

Chapter 4: The Assassin of the mist

"It began a few years ago when a certain business tycoon took over the land of waves, you must understand me that we were defenceless, he took everything from us, our main transportation to transport goods, our money and wealth. Those that didn't obey were simply not heard of again" Tazuna began his story, they had been given a lift from a boatman loyal to Tazuna when the time came for them to leave the fire country to go across to the land of waves, all around them lay a thick cover of mist, it was eerily silent except for the gentle slapping of water caused by the boatman's paddle,

"Who is this business tycoon?" asked Kakashi, the whole team was listening tentatively to Tazuna's story, Tazuna looked kakashi straight in the eye and replied.

"Gatou"

"Gatou? But he is very famous, I would never believe!" Kakashi replied shocked

"That's what they all think, that he would never do something so despicable but believe me, he has and he has done a whole lot more, like selling drugs and hiring rogue ninja on the side to create a ruthless syndicate, they are using my country as a base for their criminal activity" Tazuna raged fists clenched thinking about all the things his countrymen had gone through

"But!" he continued kakashi and the genins looked back at Tazuna, he was smiling.

"I refuse to stand back and watch my people suffer because of their greed, I'm the bridge builder, the bridge I'm working on will be the thing that will finally, after so many years link us to the main land and cut off Gatou's control over us"

"But if this was a case of a tyrant controlling your country, why ask for a C rank mission? why not get a B rank or higher?" asked Kakashi still confused, Tazuna relaxed and was silent for a while then he replied.

"The land of the waves is very poor now, I can't afford a high rank mission and I was very desperate, its ok if you want to turn back, I understand that it's too much for you"

"We might have to, my team is not strong enough for this" Kakashi said rubbing his hair, they heard a sniff, all genins looked anxiously at Tazuna and saw that his head was in his hands in tears,

"GO ON! Go on and abandon me! go back to sipping sake and visiting strip clubs and eating ramen in your home country, don't fret over the starving civilians in MY country oh no! And also don't worry about me getting assassinated on my way home, and my young grandson finding me dead on the streets!" suddenly Kakashi, sakura, sasuke and naruto got struck down with appalling apparitions of a boy crying over Tazuna's body and immediately they were sick with guilt.

"I guess we could stick it out a little longer then" Kakashi said soothingly trying to calm down the old man who was making a lot of racket that would surely get them into trouble.

Naruto leaned over to whisper to sasuke whilst kakashi tried his best to calm down the distraught man,

"Old perv, what's he doing in a strip club? First chance I get, I'm trying out my sexy jutsu on him to see if he's pervert believe it!" Naruto whispered.

They arrived hours later at the entrance of a long tunnel, the boatman looked up towards the half created bridge to make sure nobody was watching them and gently sailed them through the tunnel, it seemed never ending to the team but finally they saw a blinding light and suddenly they arrived in a small fishing village with the sea in the middle and a row of platforms with small houses surrounding it, the boatman put them off on a platform, bade Tazuna farewell and good luck and he was off again.

"Well come on then, take me home!" demanded Tazuna, kakashi, sakura, sasuke and naruto led the way reluctantly in front of him.

They began walking through a green forest, everything seemed fine but naruto was trying his best to be vigilant, but apparently sasuke and naruto differed in what was called vigilance in a lot of different ways.

"WATCH OUTTT!" Naruto screamed making the whole team jump in panic, he was pointing towards a tree that had just been moving because of the wind, there was a pause as the team prepared for battle but it was just a leaf falling down off the treetop, Naruto laughed,

"Sorry, just a leaf!"

"You little runt!" hissed Tazuna preparing to give naruto a slap but kakashi stopped him calmly,

"Naruto! please stop frightening us, it's a very dangerous thing to do" Kakashi advised, naruto apologised and they carried on walking.

"WAITTTTTTTTT!" screamed naruto and suddenly threw his kunai, out of the clearing came a white bunny who leapt in fright when it saw the kunai coming straight at it,

"Naruto! You nearly killed a rabbit!" cried sakura smacking naruto over the head, naruto feeling ashamed of himself rushed over to try to cuddle the poor creature,

"I'm so sorry bunny, please forgive mee" Naruto cried, tears streaming down his face and he sat down and stroked the poor little terrified bunny,

"You've probably scarred him for life after that" sasuke remarked, kakashi though was usually silent.

"That rabbit, its usually found in cold weather conditions, usually it only turns white in winter and then brown in the spring, the fact that its fur hasn't changed means that it has been bred in captivity, which means…. Their here!" kakashi contemplated looking at the trees immediately trying to sense any new chakra signatures, he didn't have time before a large sword came flying wildly from the tree behind them, sensing it kakashi cried,

"DOWN EVERYONE!" he got down with Tazuna and sakura, naruto was still cuddling the bunny but sasuke saved him in time by rugby tackling him to the ground before the sword cut off the blonde's head, the sword lodged itself in a high branch in a tree in front of them.

A muscly grown man with no top on, white pants on, short black hair with a mask over his face appeared standing on top of sword, his eyes cold as daggers glared at the team below him in irritation,

"Hmm, so you were able to suss me out and dodge my sword, well done" he said in his husky voice,

"Just who the hell are you?" asked naruto in a demanding voice getting up off the ground quickly,

"His Zabuza Momochi, the demon of the hidden mist" Kakashi replied looking up at the famous missing nin that once resided in the hidden mist village "You're a rogue ninja and a master of the silent kill"

"And you are Kakashi the copy cat ninja, don't think I don't have you listed in my book because I have" Zabuza stated back "The man who has copied over a 1000 jutsus with his sharingan eye".

"Sharingan!" cried both sasuke and naruto, of course naruto had been told about sasuke's bloodline limit ability, naruto looked at sasuke for reassurance but was met by a blank look from the Uchiha.

"Ok enough talking, let's settle this right now" Kakashi replied coldly

"I'm honoured" Zabuza said bowing ironically to kakashi "I've always wanted to fight against the sharingan"

"What's a sharingan?" asked sakura

"Sharingan, it's a bloodline limit ability, it's a rare eye based technique that can distinguish, counter and copy any genjutsu, ninjutsu and taijutsu an enemy can throw at the user, but that's not all the sharingan can do" sasuke explained his mouth on automatic, his knowledge so accurate.

"That's right boy, I must admit I'm very excited" zabuza giggled, then he turned serious and vanished and appeared on top of the water a few feet away from them "But let's get this show on the road, I have no time to waste talking"

"I agree" Kakashi replied, suddenly his eyes narrowed in confusion when zabuza raised one hand and placed the other by his lips,

"Water style: hidden mist justu!" Zabuza announced and immediately the whole area became cloudy with mist, so dense it was that kakashi couldn't be seen by his three students,

"Ah! Kakashi sensei!" cried naruto

Kakashi looked left and right trying to sense where zabuza was; he called to his students,

"Protect the bridge builder! Get into mange formation!" The three genins nodded in understanding even though kakashi couldn't see them and naruto stood in front of Tazuna while sasuke and sakura stood at his side,

"Sensei what is this fog for?" asked sakura

"It's obviously trying to confuse my sharingan, so stay where you are! Back in the hidden mist village zabuza was known as an expert in the silent killing technique" Kakashi explained.

"Silent killing?" asked naruto

"Whilst performing a mist technique to obscure an enemy's view, he would creep up on them, target a vital point of their body and then it would be all over" Kakashi clarified, naruto, sasuke and sakura immediately gulped, naruto turned to look at sasuke, from his stance and the way he wasn't taking charge naruto knew he was worried.

"Sasuke, calm down, trust that sensei would not let anything happen to us" Naruto whispered.

"That's it naruto, I'll never, never let anything happen to my comrades, I may promise a lot of things, but I'll never go back on that promise ever!" announced kakashi so suddenly it made naruto and sasuke both jump, from the thick layer of heavy mist a burst of blue chakra erupted to show where kakashi was standing, sasuke seemed to relax and turned to nod at naruto.

"Aww that is quite touching" echoed an eerie voice, all three genins became still again once more.

"Now where should I strike" the voice that was zabuza's continued "the heart, the lungs or the kidneys?" suddenly naruto sensed a presence behind him and there stood zabuza in between Tazuna and themselves, sakura screamed and immediately naruto and his group were flung away from Tazuna by kakashi who went straight for zabuza to stab him with a kunai, there was silence as the two ninja stood there frozen, naruto looked up to see if kakashi had killed zabuza but something was not right,

"Ah kakashi you disappoint me" said zabuza and immediately there was a flicker and another zabuza appeared behind kakashi,

"Kakashi sensei!" screamed sakura

"Too late!" cried zabuza and using his big sword he sliced through kakashi's body, sakura screamed out but suddenly they heard zabuza's groan of frustration and saw that kakashi had used a water clone, zabuza was able though to turn in time and see kakashi coming at him with a kunai, he used his leg and kicked out hard sending kakashi flying through the air into the water,

"Kakashi sensei!" cried naruto.

Kakashi came back to the surface, but felt that the water that surrounded him felt a little bit weird, before he could react however zabuza appeared behind him and completing a fast set of hand seals announced,

"It's over, water style: water prison!" suddenly kakashi found himself in a ball of water trapped.

"No" Kakashi thought to himself and suddenly turned his attention to his young students,

"Don't worry kakashi, I'll kill them quickly and then it will just be me and the bridge builder" Zabuza soothed and he again made hand seals this time with one hand and created a water clone that looked exactly like him that appeared out of the water.

"Sasuke, sakura, naruto, run away now! Don't worry about me, you cannot fight anymore, this is a jounin he will destroy you!" cried kakashi,

"No way are we leaving you sensei!" naruto replied back stubbornly,

"OH YES YOU ARE!" cried zabuza and immediately ordered his clone to kick sasuke hard in the stomach, the clone lunged at sasuke and gave him a hard kick in the groin, sasuke coughed out blood, zabuza's clone then grabbed sasuke by the neck, slammed him into the ground and place a foot on his stomach,

"GET YOUR DIRTY SHOES OFF HIM YOU GIT!" screamed naruto and charged towards the clone, the clone, as cool as a cucumber, kicked naruto backwards hard, naruto landed on the ground and stayed down apparently winded,

"Naruto! Come on let's get out of here, kakashi sensei has given us his orders!" sakura begged.

"NO WAY!" croaked naruto silencing sakura straight away, naruto began to stand, holding his stomach he gently stood up, even though the pain was terrible, but slowly he got back to his feet, blood was dribbling down his chin, with his eyes lowered, his hair now loose of his headband because the clone had taken it off his head naruto really looked a little battle worn, he wiped his mouth and whispered in a deathly cold voice.

"For the last time, Mr no eyebrows, get your feet off sasuke" the clone took his feet off the winded genin but instead of letting him get up with dignity he kicked him hard in the side sending him rolling over back towards naruto,

"Sasuke are you ok?" naruto asked, sasuke coughed up some more blood, but he was able to get onto his hands and knees and nod,

"You little punks make me sick" zabuza whispered "Talking like you're grown, like your big shot ninjas, when I was your age my hands had already been stained by my opponent's blood, while you brats just wear your trophy of a headband! It's a laugh and an insult to ninjas everywhere!"

"What the hell is he talking about?" asked naruto to kakashi, kakashi looked disturbed as he began to reply

"Back in the hidden mist village, also known as blood mist village, there was a certain test that academy students had to take before they could graduate from the academy"

"A test? Like the one we had at the academy? So what? That doesn't make him that special!" naruto asked

"Naruto this test was different; students were pitted against each other to the death! It was an occurring thing until the law was changed because of one incident that occurred on one of these tests, a student that wasn't even a ninja turned up at one of these graduating tests and massacred the entire graduating class that one year" Kakashi explained exasperatedly. There was a deathly silence and sasuke, sakura and naruto turned from kakashi to look at zabuza who was standing there with his eyes closed.

"Ohhh… those were the days" he said with pride, naruto and sasuke stepped back a little in fear,

"So are you going to step aside now so I can kill the bridge builder? Please say yes" zabuza asked poison in his voice, naruto was the first to step forward,

"I made a promise to this bridge builder and naruto uzumaki NEVER goes back on his word!" cried naruto and charged at the jounin,

"Naruto no!" sasuke cried but the pain in his groin stopped him from going a step further, naruto charged like a mad man at the clone who again knocked him backwards, but the clone looked at his hands where the headband he was holding had gone missing.

"You were after the headband?" asked sasuke disbelievingly

"Yep! Now get it together sasuke, or aren't you an uchiha!" said naruto grinning from ear to ear cheekily,

"Hmm, you're going to pay for that when this is over dumbass!" sasuke replied grinning but he stood up straight and breathed in and out a couple of times before he assumed a battle stance.

"NO! Sasuke and naruto, I gave you a direct order! Take Tazuna and get out of here NOW!" Kakashi exclaimed

"I'm sorry Kakashi sensei, but I believe that's an order me and sasuke can't obey at the moment, sasuke you know what to do!" naruto replied, sasuke nodded and naruto brought his finger together in a hand seal,

"Shadow clone jutsu!" he cried out, suddenly a lot of shadow clones appeared across the clearing surrounding the clone of zabuza, zabuza looked a touch surprised when he saw this,

"Shadow clones huh?"

Naruto gave the silent command and the clones rushed towards zabuza like stampeding elephants, they all had kunais and they went to stab zabuza, but zabuza used his big sword to guard against their attacks, using a huge burst of chakra he screamed and the shadow clones were scattered backwards in all directions, they began bursting in all different directions,

"I'M NOT DONE YET!" screamed naruto and he dug into his backpack and threw a shuriken up in the air,

"SASUKEEEE!" sasuke caught the shuriken and made a show of swinging it around in his hand, he brought the star shaped shuriken up to eye level so that the clone could see it,

"Huh you can't defeat me with a puny shuriken" the zabuza clone snarled,

"Demon wind shuriken!" sasuke cried and he leapt in the air and threw the shuriken with all his might at the real zabuza, it soared pass the clone who stood there dumbfounded and soared towards zabuza,

"I see" zabuza whispered but he dodged the shuriken, suddenly he saw another shuriken in the shadow of the first and dodged that one by jumping, suddenly another was soaring at him from behind so he had no choice but to catch it and finally out popped naruto from his blind spot and sent a final kunai towards him, zabuza cursed as his hand went away from the water prison that was holding kakashi so he could dodge the kunai, he saw naruto slowly falling into the water and anger filling him that he had been outwitted by a bunch of genin he was about to throw the shuriken back at naruto when a hand reached out and stopped him. Kakashi, water drenched looked at him, his sharingan activated his face no longer calm but eager for revenge.

Naruto completed his descent into the water and came back up giving a gasp; he continued to watch the two ninjas go at it from a distance,

"Naruto well done and you sasuke, I'm proud of you both!" Kakashi exclaimed back, naruto smiled widely while rubbing his hands through his hair while sasuke shrugged his shoulders as if it was easy getting punched to the ground twice,

"Now as for you" Kakashi whispered turning to zabuza who had his eyes wide in shock "Let's return to our fight"

"You go kakashi sensei! Show him who really has the balls" cried naruto, kakashi and zabuza quickly separated themselves from each other and zabuza went immediately into creating some hand seals, but he stopped aghast when he saw that kakashi had his hands in the same way as him,

"Impossible, you can't possibly know how to do this technique" zabuza said and began to do the seals, finished he announced,

"Water style, water dragon jutsu!" and so had kakashi, their dragons came out of the water seeking to destroy one another but in the end they cancelled each other out, zabuza unnerved began to do simple hand seals and again kakashi copied him, zabuza stopped doing hand seals and began running around in a circle, kakashi copied him, zabuza raised one hand and kakashi copied him,

"Can you read my mind?" asked zabuza and kakashi together, zabuza went pale in horror, unable to resist it his eyes met kakashi's sharingan and immediately kakashi's eyes rotated and he cried,

"Water style: great waterfall technique!" and immediately a spiral of water appeared around kakashi, picking up speed a typhoon of water came from kakashi towards zabuza, the water lurched and naruto immediately was sent spinning around, kakashi remained still as a statue focussing all his attention on trying to get zabuza against the tree behind him, finally zabuza was washed up on dry land, out of chakra and trying to breathe after getting nearly drowned,

"Impossible! You were able to perform a jutsu that i was able to perform, can you see the future or something?" asked zabuza looking at kakashi who was now standing on a tree branch,

"Yes and I see your death!" Kakashi replied simply, suddenly before kakashi could finish the man below, he sensed a presence and immediately zabuza cried out in pain as three senbon needles pierced him in the neck sending him flying sideways and killing him instantly.

Kakashi looked at where the needles had come from and saw a young man or woman with long silky black hair standing nonchalantly on a tree, a mask over his/her face with swirls decorating it and only two slits for eye holes, kakashi made the waters die down and Tazuna, sasuke and sakura was able to join them as kakashi hopped down off the tree and went to inspect zabuza,

"I thank you very much leaf ninja" the young man said in a honeyed voice "I have been tracking zabuza for a very long time",

"You are a hunter ninja from the hidden mist village?" asked kakashi, the ninja just nodded.

"HEY! WHAT THE HELL, WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" screamed naruto racing towards the young ninja, kakashi quickly put his arm out to stop the boy,

"Cool it naruto, his just here to capture zabuza, he's no threat to us" Kakashi whispered in naruto's ear, naruto bit his lip trying to rein in his jealousy that this ninja barely older than himself, had managed to finish off zabuza with sticks, the stranger jumped off the branch of the tree and went to zabuza, he wrapped zabuza's massive arms over his shoulders, he looked one last time at kakashi, sakura, sasuke, naruto and tazuna and said,

"Again you have my thanks, goodbye" and with that he vanished.

"Well what a fight that was" Kakashi sighed in relief,

"Kakashi sensei! Who was that? Tell me, please tell me!" begged naruto

"I'll tell you when we arrive at Tazuna's" Kakashi said and began to take the lead through the forest, he had gone barely five steps when suddenly his head began to swim and his body became numb.

"Kakashi sensei?" asked naruto worried, suddenly kakashi collapsed onto the forest floor to the horror of naruto, sasuke and sakura,

"Kakashi sensei?" naruto shouted, but there was no response from their silver haired jounin teacher

"KAKASHI SENSEIIIII!" naruto cried desperately, the forest echoing with his cry of worry, startling the birds in the treetops above.

END


	5. Chapter 5: The results of their bond

The tale of the two brothers

Chapter 5: The results of their bond

"When do you think he will wake up?" asked an annoying excited voice.

"I don't know for the last time naruto, his body is worn out, it could take days" replied a low uninterested voice that was obviously sasuke's

Kakashi slowly tried to open his eyelids and bit my bit his eyes adjusted to where he was, he was in a bedroom with his young students around his bed, sakura looked close to tears while sasuke was looking fed up with being pestered by a curious naruto.

"Kakashi sensei?" began naruto "KAKASHI SENSEIII!" He cried and immediately started to hug his already injured sensei, Kakashi's face went pale as a ghost and sasuke immediately pulled naruto off of him,

"Thank you sasuke" croaked kakashi

"Kakashi sensei we were so worried" sakura said tears appearing in her green eyes "We thought you would never wake",

"Are we in Tazuna's house?" asked Kakashi, all three genins nodded, suddenly the sliding doors leading into the bedroom were slid apart and in walked a slim lady with long black hair with a tint of purple in it and slightly tanned skin, she had the air of a caring woman and kakashi thanked her for her hospitality.

"It's no problem, we are very grateful to you for trying to get rid of Gatou" she replied,

"You may be grateful but I am not!" interrupted a small voice, the woman sighed and the genins looked passed her to where a small boy who was wearing a massive big white hat and a green looking jumpsuit was standing behind his mother.

"Inari" began the woman

"Tell them to go back to where they came from mother, don't you see their just going to get hurt?" cried the boy turning to his mother ignoring the offended looks on the genins faces,

"Inari stop being rude!" demanded his mother

"Its perfectly alright hunny, I make fun of them too!" laughed Tazuna who came into the room carrying two bottles of sake in his hands, he ruffled the boy called Inari's hair and sat down and handed kakashi a bottle "So you're finally awake are ya? Let's celebrate with some sake, the defeat of one of Gatou's top thugs!"

"Grandfather it is only "one" of Gatou's top thugs that has been defeated, that still won't be enough to defeat Gatou, he will just hire someone else!" Inari hissed and turned on naruto and the others "I suggest you get out of the land of the waves and go back to your home country"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU LITTLE BRAT!" cried naruto astonished by the brutal hostility thrown at them by this little kid "Listen we're only leaving when we're certain that everything is alright here!"

"Everything IS alright here, all you are going to do is cause more trouble for us, by sticking your nose in where it doesn't belong! Go away!" screamed Inari squaring up to naruto, naruto remained sitting for a while silently fuming then suddenly he stood up quickly and sasuke had to quickly stop him from attacking the boy in front of him.

"You see! I hate you all, you don't understand a thing!" cried Inari and he marched from the room silently sobbing.

"I'm ever so sorry about Inari, please will you forgive him" whispered Inari's mom trying not to shed tears in front of them.

"It's quite alright, I understand" Kakashi said his one eye that was visible softening in understanding "Naruto! Sasuke and sakura we must all be understanding of what people we will meet here, some will try to drive us back home, it's the fear that is doing this to them, but we must try to give them as much hope and confidence to support us in what we must do" the three genins nodded but naruto was not so quick to forgive,

"I need a pee" he said.

"Well go to the toilet you idiot!" roared sakura standing up quickly and smacking naruto over the head, naruto smiled and trying to hide what he was about to do he made his way upstairs to Inari's room, just as he was about to kick the door down and give the little brat a smacking he heard a sob coming from inside, he slowly opened the door a fraction and peered inside, Inari was sitting on the window sill of his bedroom, looking out at the blue sea holding a photograph in his hand while crying silently.

"NO daddy, no!" he sobbed tears cascading down his face and splattering on the photograph in his hands, naruto guilt ridden decided against his actions and, feeling a bit ashamed of himself began to walk back downstairs.

"Kakashi sensei?" snapped naruto at his teacher as the Jounin once again starting brooding in the middle of telling them a story,

"Oh sorry I was thinking again, something's been bugging me about this hunter ninja we met" Kakashi replied a little concerned,

"What? What?" asked naruto impatiently,

"Think carefully naruto" sasuke whispered

"Think carefully about what I told you about hunter ninja and about what this hunter ninja did" Kakashi said waiting for their answer,

"Well you said that hunter ninja hunt down and kill rogue ninjas from their village" sakura began "Their into full out extermination no more, nothing less"

"Ok what weapons do ninja use to kill other ninja?" asked Kakashi carefully,

"Kunai or shuriken" replied sasuke then realising what he was saying, his eyes widened and he said "No way"

"Exactly this hunter ninja just used senbon needles and sakura what do we know about senbon needles?" kakashi responded looking at sakura who knew the truth but was a little worried by voicing her opinions.

"Senbon needles: they are used in medical practices to heal, very rarely are they used to kill, to kill an opponent the needles would have to hit a vital point of the body, for example the chest"

"And where did the needles pierce zabuza?" asked Kakashi "It was in his neck, the neck rarely is a vital point except if the pressure of the weapon is strong, the needle wasn't inserted deeply into zabuza's neck from the way it was thrown and from where the hunter ninja was standing plus the weapon was not a particular popular weapon, which means that the hunter ninja wasn't trying to kill zabuza but he was trying to give the illusion that he was"

"So zabuza is still alive?" came a demanding voice from behind the genins, kakashi sat up and saw that Tazuna was standing by the door.

"Exactly" Kakashi replied

"No way, what are we going to do now? You're out of it and these guys can't possibly take on zabuza alone?" demanded Tazuna

"It's okay, Zabuza is possibly still recovering from his fight with me, by the time he is possibly ready to fight I will be recovered. But until then" Kakashi explained and then turned to his young team members "You guys must do some training"

"GAH! Why? Don't we deserve a rest?" asked naruto frustrated

"Naruto don't you remember how the fight against zabuza last time?" asked sasuke "What kind of training will we be doing sensei?"

"You will see, meet me in the forest tomorrow morning at dawn" Kakashi yawned and immediately went back to sleep.

"AH! Lazy guy" Naruto complained.

In a clearing far away from Tazuna's house, the mysterious hunter ninja was working on removing evidence from Zabuza's body,

"Now where should I start?" he asked, suddenly a hand grabbed onto his wrist hard and zabuza's eyes opened,

"You're really sick, you do know that right?" asked zabuza sitting bolt upright and immediately taking the small needles that pierced him in the neck out quickly "Stopping my heart like that, it's lucky that I'm still alive!"

"Don't you trust me zabuza?" asked the young man

"Of course I do!" snapped zabuza "Just remember not to use weapons that leave unnecessary scars!"

"I promise not to do it again master" replied the man

"And take that stupid mask off your face damn it!" snarled zabuza trying to exercise his legs and arms to get life back into them, the young man nodded and took off the mask to reveal a quite young looking but feminine face underneath.

"As soon as I'm rested, that kakashi is going to feel my wrath!" hissed zabuza "And this time I may need your assistance Haku".

"I understand my master" the boy named Haku replied.

Dawn found Kakashi using crutches, in the forest, surrounded by trees with sasuke, sakura and naruto,

"Now you all know about chakra right and the importance of being able to control it?" asked Kakashi becoming a teacher for the first time since he was introduced to them,

"Of course back at the academy we all knew about cat-tra!" Naruto began

"Naruto its chakra for the last time, sorry kakashi he always gets the naming wrong" sasuke whispered,

"It's a cooler way of saying it though" whispered naruto

"Okayy, chakra needs to be properly distributed to the correct element of the jutsu you are about to perform, for a fire jutsu for example you need a lot more chakra then using a water based attack" Kakashi explained "The task I'm about to give you, will help you in applying the correct control over your chakra, thus improving the way you fight" after saying that kakashi placed his hands together in a simple hand sign, then quite simply he walked up the tree that was behind him, the genins looked up in awe at seeing kakashi walking all the way up the tree to the fourth branch and balancing upside down on the branch,

"All you have to do is concentrate a small amount of chakra to the soles of your feet and climb the tree to the last branch, use your kunai to mark your progress" and after explaining he threw, three kunais to land at each of the genin's feet. Then he made his way down the tree again onto the forest ground.

"Now, let's have a little go at this, after three you begin, 1, 2 and 3! Go!" immediately all genins began concentrating on focussing chakra to their feet, sakura was the first to be satisfied and began to walk easily up the tree, naruto and sasuke stopped concentrating and was ticked off that sakura had mastered the technique before them and was now sitting on the fourth branch up on top of the tree,

"Good work sakura, your ability to listen and maintain information is a credit to this team, now sasuke and naruto, it's your turn" Kakashi complimented, sakura jumped off the tree and stood to one side to watch the boys.

Sasuke and naruto nodded and began concentrating again, when they were satisfied they had the right amount of chakra they dashed at the tree but naruto went an inch up the tree and fell back down whilst sasuke went a little further, but not as far as the first branch, he marked the spot he got it with his kunai then fell back down onto the ground,

"Ok keep trying guys, sakura you can come back to the house with me or continue practising, it's your choice" Kakashi said after a few hours of seeing naruto and sasuke falling off the tree again and again, obviously not making much progress. Sakura looked at the two boys struggling and said,

"I think I'll stay sensei and help my teammates out a bit" Kakashi nodded and headed back to Tazuna's house.

"Listen guys you have to get the chakra balance right the middle, you can't use too much chakra and too little, once you are 100% sure you have the balance right that's when you lightly walk up the tree instead of running" Sakura instructed, when finally the boys asked for her help, three hours later,

"Yeah I get it now!" naruto cried nodding his head wildly in understanding,

"Concentrate and ignore trying to reach the goal, concentrate properly on your chakra right?" asked sasuke, sakura nodded, the two boys brought their hands together and began to reduce or increase the chakra going to their feet, finally naruto and sasuke knew they had mastered it and walked to the tree and they were climbing it, they went pass the two tree branches out of the 5, then the third then fell back down.

"I think we need to increase the chakra flow a bit then we run out of gas" Sasuke commented, naruto nodded and when they came to the third branch they slowly released more chakra, then at the fourth they did the same, they were high up now, overlooking the entire forest, birds were nearly in their hair and they both laughed and sat on top of the final branch.

"NARUTO! SASUKE WELL DONE!" cried sakura jumping up and down waving at her other two teammates,

"Wow we went further than sakura" Naruto comprehended

"Let's get back home" sasuke replied smiling to himself.

The three genins walked back through the darkening forest together and when Tazuna's niece Tsunami opened the door to greet them, they smiled at her and asked politely for supper. Kakashi was surprised to see them at the dinner table and even more surprised that sasuke and naruto had surpassed sakura on the tree climbing exercise, sasuke and naruto were famished and they had eaten three bowls of dinner and were about to finish when Tsunami came in with some dessert.

"I WANT MOREEE!" cried sasuke and naruto at the same time, holding up their bowls, then they gave each other evil eyes but everyone just laughed except for a little boy sitting outside on the balcony looking up at the moon.

The end


	6. Chapter 6: A country where dwelt a hero

The Tale of the two brothers by Chie Matsuo

Chapter 6: The country where dwelt a hero

Tazuna was busy working on the bridge, he took up some timber and began walking along the bridge, he spotted sakura standing guard looking bored and asked,

"Yo! You getting bored? Where are your two teammates?"

"Oh sasuke and naruto are training, they always train together, since I'm not doing anything, I offered to bodyguard you today" Sakura explained,

"Really?" Tazuna replied sarcastically making sakura curse him under her breath

"Oi Tazuna!" shouted a voice, Tazuna turned and saw his best friend Eji coming towards him looking sombre and a bit anxious,

"Eji what's going on buddy?" asked Tazuna giving Eji a pat on the back

"Tazuna I'm sorry, I can't continue to do this, Gatou's men are getting more powerful by the day, and I have to give you my resignation notice" Eji blurted out then looked away from Tazuna guiltily,

"What, What? Are you kidding me? You've been with me for years, we promised each other to stick together until the bridge was completed, don't you understand this bridge means everything to the villagers!" Tazuna cried uncomprehendingly,

"I know Tazuna but I have family, I can't risk getting them involved, my wife just gave birth, I can't bear to think something will happen to them because of me!" Eji retorted back, there was a silence, Tazuna stared at the man he thought, his friend, then just walked past him totally disappointed,

"Tazuna please, don't you think this is hard for me too!" begged Eji turning to yell after Tazuna "Don't you care about anyone else and how much we sacrifice!"

"I sacrifice too!" roared back Tazuna "But the day I accept defeat, the day I go back on my word, I loose all dignity, I'm not a man I'm just a coward!" Eji was silenced then he bowed his head in guilt,

"Sakura" Tazuna addressed, sakura looked quickly from the distraught Eji to Tazuna

"Yes" she piped

"Let's go on lunch, I need some grub" Tazuna stated and without seeing if sakura was following he made his way to the village.

They walked through the wave village, everywhere sakura looked, from the moment she walked into the village was poverty, they were followed by a distraught man begging for food and money as soon as they entered the village but Tazuna politely told him they had none, there were beggars everywhere, children and the elderly, out on the street pestering passers by, for food and money, down an alleyway a small boy was beaten by thugs who wanted to take the piece of bread that he had stolen from a nearby market, sakura was shocked and pitiful at the circumstances of the people around her.

They entered a local shop, the shelves were bare, stripped off all basic food except a few vegetables here and a few grains of rice whose bag that been ripped to pieces by a recent customer. Sakura was so shocked by what she saw that she didn't realised a pair of hands going into her bag, her senses at last caught up to her and the culprit a vandal got a beating for a reward.

"You're quite a tough girl aren't ya?" asked Tazuna a little unsettled at the state sakura had left the thief in as they left the shop

"He was asking for it, I'm sorry, I know everyone is desperate but I couldn't help it" Sakura said a little guilty about her actions, suddenly again another hand touched her this time on a very compromising part of her body, she turned around sending all sorts of daggers at the pervert who was responsible for touching her there. It was only a small boy, no older than 10, he had a messy tunic on and dirt all over his hair, hands and feet, he looked scared out of his life as sakura turned with evils in her eyes but smiled nervously and held out his hands, asking for food obviously, sakura was immediately softened, no way was she going to let this young child go away with nothing, he was very thin and looked famished, she dug into her bag and even though it would cost her she took out a energy bar and gave it to the young boy.

"Thank you lady!" gushed the young boy and immediately ran off to split the bar with his young friend, Sakura wiped tears that she was trying her best not to let fall, Tazuna saw her reaction and placed a hand on her shoulder,

"This is why you guys coming to us is so important, that's why the bridge is so important" he said

"Please Tazuna let's go back to the bridge" Sakura whispered after a long pause but silently she prayed to any God up there to help her and her teammates to protect these villagers and defeat Gatou.

Later that night as the whole group sat down to eat dinner sakura found she couldn't eat much whilst Naruto ate furiously while sasuke tried to uphold his self control, around the dinner table was Kakashi, Tazuna and Inari who had finally decided to come and eat with them. After the dinner whilst sasuke and naruto talked to Tazuna more about ninja training sakura got up from the table to stare at the photograph that was hanging up on the wall near the door, it was a family taken photograph of Inari, his mom, Tazuna and an unknown figure whose face had been ripped off.

"Err Inari, who is this person? I reckon he used to be in the photograph but for some reason his photo has been taken off?" asked Sakura, immediately there was a tense atmosphere, Inari's mother stopped eating and Inari too, Tazuna ate a forkful of his dinner then said,

"He used to be called a hero of his village" Tazuna's face was expressionless but sasuke could tell there was a hint of sarcasm in the tone, Inari's chair immediately scraped back and he walked calmly but furiously from the room.

"DAD! How many times do I have to say it huh? Stop talking about him like that around Inari" cried Tsunami and darted after her son

"What's wrong with Inari, did I say something wrong?" asked sakura a little upset

"No you didn't, its just that, when Kaiza left us, Inari just wasn't the same, it's a complicated story" Tazuna explained

"Who was Kaiza Tazuna?" asked Kakashi "Tell me about Inari and what happened to him please"

"Kaiza was a fisherman that turned up a few years back and Inari immediately took a liking to him, of course Inari never knew about his real father so it's understandable. Kaiza was very brave, he preached about things like hope, having faith in oneself and living life with no regrets, words that nobody around here believed anymore. He saved our village from flooding when Gatou was prepared to see us all killed, he became so close to us that my daughter even wanted to marry him thus Kaiza would even become a dad to Inari. But that's when things started to turn bad" Tazuna revealed and everyone listened closely feeling apprehension in their stomachs

"Kaiza was captured by Gatou's men and they tortured him for five days, never letting up, Gatou believed a man like Kaiza would encourage others to raise up against him, so he didn't like that, and because of that, he had him tortured and executed in front of all the villagers, before Inari's very eyes" Tazuna finished, tears immediately streaming down his eyes and he chocked on the very last words "After that Inari never smiled, he was a broken spirit, he became so scared of anyone mentioning rebellion against Gatou because he never wanted to see them suffer like how Kaiza suffered, he believes no hero will save him"

"But there ARE Heroes" said a voice, Tazuna looked up and saw Naruto staring at him, a wide excited grin on his face, he was shaking with emotion and excitement, kakashi's eyes softened.

"I'm, no we're, going to do it, all of us, kakashi, Sakura and sasuke and you Mr Tazuna, we will all prove to Inari that there are heroes, not just us but inside everyone, inside all these villagers, I promise you I will protect up until you finish that bridge and I never go back on my word because I am Naruto Uzumaki, a hokage that will never let his friends down!" Tazuna was aghast, was this runt that over confident of his ability to bring down a syndicate like Gatou's?, in the face of Naruto's speech Tazuna saw immediately Kaiza's face, his face screwed up in emotion and he replied

"Thank you, thank you all"

"That means I have to finish training! See ya!" Naruto said and dashed off to the forest

"Naruto be careful!" kakashi cried but he decided to let the boy go.

The next day sasuke awoke, he yawned and looked over to see if naruto was in his sleeping bag, but he wasn't, sasuke's eyes narrowed and he immediately thought something was wrong, without showing any emotion sasuke got dressed and went down for breakfast; naruto wasn't at the breakfast table.

"Hi sasuke!" squealed sakura

"Where's naruto?" asked sasuke

"Where do you think? Out training as usual" sakura replied sighing

"Maybe you should go check on him sasuke" kakashi suggested out of view behind a newspaper, sasuke nodded and worrying slightly went out to find the blonde haired dufus.

Naruto was shook immediately awake, he had collapsed on the forest floor from chakra exhaustion the night before, he opened his eyes and he was looking up at bright green trees, but a figure was blocking out the sun, naruto sat bolt upright and yawned then turned to the stranger that had woken him, it was the most beautiful girl naruto had ever seen, she had lovely black eyes, long silky black hair down pass her shoulders, pale alabaster skin and was wearing a lovely pink kimono with black swirls on it, she looked worried for him and naruto immediately blushed.

"Yo sis, what's up?" he asked

"I thought you were dead, what are you doing out here so early?" she asked

"I was training miss" Naruto replied "I'm a ninja, see" he pointed to his hitate headband

"I see and why are you training so hard?" she asked, Naruto smiled and folded his legs beneath himself, relaxing immediately, glorifying that someone was interested in him and his dreams

"I have to become stronger in order to become the strongest ninja in my village, the hokage!" Naruto explained

"So you're not fighting for someone precious to you?" asked the girl

"Nah what are you talking about sis? I just told you that I'm not" Naruto whined

"But you can get strong when fighting for people dear to you" the girl advised "For example who is precious to you?"

"Well I guess… my friend sasuke, the villagers of this poor village, my friends back home" Naruto thought

"Ha, that's it, then you have a special purpose to protect those people that are dear to you, you will become a strong ninja I can feel it" said the girl and began to get up to leave, naruto became disappointed that she was leaving so soon and was just about to ask her on a date when she shouted

"By the way, I'm a boy" Naruto couldn't believe that, how can a boy look so feminine, he was even more beautiful than sakura, he cursed underneath his breathe about the fantasy that he would have quite happily given himself to this boy!

"Naruto!" cried a voice a few minutes later, Naruto looked up and saw that the girl/boy was gone then up at the tree and saw sasuke on a tree branch, sasuke jumped down off the tree, he looked worried

"I saw someone go pass, who was he?" sasuke asked

"It was a girl" Naruto said abruptly, there was a silence

"Nooo he was a boy?" sasuke retorted "Are you turning gay?"

"WHAT! You've seen all the pictures and mags in my room of girls and you stand there and call me gay?" naruto yelped standing up ready to fight

"Well what are doing talking to some guy dressed as a girl? Anyhow I don't have time for this, breakfast is ready" Sasuke said and began walking back to the house. There was silence as naruto didn't say a word but continued to glare at sasuke's backside, the birds began coo cooing over head but took flight and scattered when naruto screamed.

"SASUKEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Naruto never let sasuke's insult on his sexuality faze him all throughout the day, he just did what he did best when sasuke irritated him and began throwing punches at a tree and trained harder while sasuke, sakura and kakashi took turns body guarding Tazuna on the bridge. Naruto had this all sorted out.

Later that night at dinner naruto returned back, exhausted that he was barely able to eat, Inari was another one not eating but he was just staring at naruto all throughout dinner.

"Naruto what is wrong with you? Training so hard? You could kill yourself just look at you!" Sakura scolded him after dinner

"It's cool sakura, its cool" Naruto replied back smiling at her. Inari's eyes narrowed and his blood began to boil, standing up furiously he cried

"WHY DO YOU TRY SO HARD? You'll just be beaten by Gatou and then all the villagers will be punished along with you!" again there was a silence

"Listen to you always complaining about everything" naruto replied calmly but the anger was apparent in his voice

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING! YOU'RE ALL STUPID, YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE TREATED LIKE A LOW LIFE ALL YOUR LIFE!" Inari roared, naruto didn't bother to raise his head as he replied

"You're always whining and crying and complaining, I don't see you getting off your backside and braving anything, you're just a silly LITTLE kid and a coward!"

"Naruto!" warned kakashi but naruto wasn't having it, without looking at anyone he left the room to go upstairs leaving Inari trembling at the table in fits of tears.

Kakashi found Inari outside later that evening on the balcony looking at the waning moon, the tears from dinner was still on his face but he turned his face when kakashi came to hide it, kakashi sat down beside him.

"It's a beautiful night isn't it?" asked kakashi "Really peaceful" Inari didn't reply so kakashi got straight to the point,

"Naruto may have been harsh tonight but you don't know how much he has been through, from a young age people have looked down on him and treated him very cruelly, many times he has cried until there should really be a sea of tears drowning him, but something happened to him" kakashi began and stopped, Inari looked up and kakashi continued

"He stopped crying and started to work and to push himself to the limit, he hid behind the mask of empty smiles because he knew that crying isn't the way to help him out of his current situation and that's why he wants to become hokage. He knows how hard the journey is but he doesn't care, that's his ninja way" Inari suddenly understood and felt guilty about what he said, he never knew there was another that had experienced what he felt.

"You sure it's okay to leave naruto here with you?" asked Kakashi the next day, he was fit and able and he was free of his clutches and ready to start his day protecting Tazuna on the bridge, along with Sasuke and Sakura, naruto was still in bed,

"It's fine really, you guys be careful okay" Tsunami replied soothingly, Kakashi smiled and waved goodbye, so did sasuke and sakura and left, two mysterious figures appeared on the scene moments later, two ninjas with swords.

"AGH! Where is everyone?" asked naruto

"They went straight to the bridge already, are you doing to eat breakfast naruto-kun?" asked Tsunami

"No time sorry!" cried naruto and grabbed his jacket and dashed out the door, Inari watched from upstairs naruto's departure in silence.

Knock!

"Coming!" Tsunami said a few moments later "Naruto did you leave something behind?" she opened the door.

"What, What has happened here?" cried Tazuna looking down his bridge, all around his friends lay scattered, beaten up, some killed, before kakashi could reply however dense, impenetrable fog suddenly appeared

"This fog!" kakashi realised "Sasuke, Sakura, Mange formation!"

"HAI!" replied sasuke and sakura

"Well, well looks like you decided to finally show your face!" Kakashi said out loud

"Of course kakashi, did you really think you could defeat me that easily?" asked a cold, husky voice, suddenly clones of zabuza appeared one for each of kakashi's squad, kakashi, sasuke and sakura had their kunais drawn already and stood their ground firmly

"Look at this boy, his still shaking, hehe!" sneered zabuza pointing at sasuke, sasuke suddenly grinned, zabuza looked confused

"I'm shaking with excitement" sasuke replied confidently, zabuza smiled

"You go for it sasuke" kakashi whispered, sasuke smirked and lunged towards zabuza's clones.

"AGH! INARI!" screamed Tsunami stepping back in fear as two huge muscly men came into the house, swords drawn ready to kidnap her

"Now now, come along nicely or we'll have to cut off your arms and legs!" threatened the ninja with the purple bandana on

"MUMMY!" cried a small voice  
>"Inari go away, run!" screamed Tsunami<p>

"Well well, is this Kaiza's son? Maybe we should kill him too" the ninja suggested

"NO! Leave him alone, take me, I'm much more important please! Begged Tsunami, there was a silence then the ninjas nodded, grabbing her by the arms they yank her to stand and left the house leaving Inari scared to death on the floor

"Mother, no" Inari whispered, tears falling like raindrops on the floor beneath him, he felt so bad that he knew this pain would never cease, he had to do something.

As the two ninjas were about three steps away from the house, there was a shout from behind them, they turned and saw Inari standing there, a pitchfork in his hand

"Let go of my mother, you brutes!" cried Inari

"Are you challenging us weakling?" asked the bandana ninja

"Yes if you're man enough to take me on!" replied Inari furiously, the ninja clenched his fist over his sword, Tsunami sensing the danger that was about to befall her only son screamed

"INARI GO BACK TO THE HOUSE, RUN AWAY, YOU'RE ONLY A KID!"

"It's much too late for that, the little brat insulted my honour" the ninja with the bandana hissed and unsheathed his sword, then sprinted towards Inari full of bloodlust and anger, Inari immediately dropped his sword and fell down cowering.

BAM! One naruto clone appeared out of nowhere and barged into the unsuspecting ninja sending him sideways into the water on either side of them

"YOU!" screamed the second ninja but another clone had already snuck up on him and stabbed him in the back with a kunai revealing a smiling naruto standing behind him looking proudly at Inari

"Na-Naruto" gasped Inari looking shocked and so relieved he was crying

"Inari you did well, these guys were so focussed on you they forgot about anyone that could be sneaking up on them" Naruto explained smiling widely, Inari looked at naruto for a long time then began crying

"Inari" whispered naruto then his eyes softened "why are you crying buddy?"

"Because I was too scared to kill them, I nearly failed my mom and now you're going to say that I'm a coward!" cried Inari

"Hey didn't I say you did ok?" shouted naruto "You're not a failure, today you're a hero"

"I am, I'm so sorry for what I said to you and how I've been treating you guys, I am" Inari replied, Naruto hugged Inari closely

"Hey I should be sorry; you have nothing to be sorry for, nothing at all"

"Thank you naruto" Inari whispered

"Now I've got to go, I sense something is going on" Naruto said becoming serious and made to leave

"Wait naruto" called Inari "How did you know these guys were here?"

"There is a dead boar up ahead in the forest and slashed tree stumps, these guys are not very good in the brains department leaving all those clues, plus they were all pointing back to the house, so I guess something was up" Naruto explained then sprinted off to the bridge.

Sasuke and Haku locked kunais and came to a standstill

"You're a joke hiding behind that mask, why not show your face, traitor" sasuke snarled "You really made a fool out of us that day, but I swear to you, you won't make a fool out of us a second time"

"Sasuke you get that traitor you hear!" Sakura shouted

"I'm sorry that I have to do this" Haku replied and lifting one hand began to make hand seals with one hand! Sasuke gasped, chakra began to circulate around the Haku's body and immediately tall ice mirrors appeared around them to create a dome, haku then as quick as lightening made to kick sasuke but he dodged and landed a bit away from the youth, Haku then made another hand seal and dissolved his entire body inside the mirrors, suddenly clones of Haku appeared in every one of the million ice mirrors that surrounded sasuke confusing him so that he didn't know which one was haku,

"You are quite fast" Haku complimented, sasuke immediately remembered being able to destroy Zabuza's water clones and the one and one fight he had had with Haku up to this point "But I control how fast you move now" and immediately over a thousand spiked needles began striking sasuke all over, cutting him deeply so that he gushed blood, sasuke bit his lip and tried to stop himself from crying out with pain as it basically felt like his entire body was being stabbed a thousand times in all different areas of his body.

Outside the dome kakashi was immediately worried for his young student

"Sasuke!" he began trying to sprint towards the dome but zabuza blocked his path

"You attack haku and I'll attack the bridge builder, get it?" zabuza threatened, kakashi dared not push zabuza and stood firmly where he was but sakura looked at Tazuna and said,

"I'm sorry but I have to help my teammate, forgive me"

"Ok" Tazuna replied and sakura ran towards the dome, zabuza looked towards her and kakashi was able to stop him from charging towards sakura

"Let's finish this once and for all, you and me" Kakashi growled

"Alright" Zabuza answered

Sakura jumped in the air and tried to throw a kunai at the outside of the mirrors

"SASUKEE!" she screamed but suddenly her eyes widened in shock when she saw a hand coming out of the mirrors to catch the kunai, sasuke immediately collapsed at that point in frustration as much as anything else, Haku continued to look at sakura in confusion but was then suddenly struck with a shuriken, the power of the shuriken made him fall out of the mirror he was occupying and fell on the ground.

A cloud of dust rose up and then it slowly cleared revealing naruto standing proudly in the midst of it, he didn't look too happy

"Naruto!" cried sasuke, naruto looked seriously at the state his best friend was in and then looked back seriously at Haku, there was not a trace of a smile on his face and he pointed at him

"Naruto Uzumaki has arrived and you're dead" he stated


	7. Chapter 7:The fight on the bridge

Chapter 7: Naruto enters the fight: Haku meets his end

"Naruto Uzumaki is on the scene, you better scram before I kick your asses!" Naruto roared pointing at Haku lying on the ground. Haku collected himself off the ground looking slightly puzzled and irritated.

"He- he saw my movements in that split second?" Haku thought then slowly he got to his feet and said more loudly "Well well look who has graced us with his presence, the number one, hyperactive knuckle head ninja"

Naruto wasn't the least perturbed by the taunt but he was angered that Haku had dared touched his friend, he pointed to the ice dome and shouted.

"Let him go, NOW!"

"I cannot, by the way this reminds me" Haku replied uncompassionate and then he turned towards sasuke, sasuke's eyes widened in fear "We have a fight to finish off, I'll be back to fight you later naruto"

"Huh! How on earth do you know my name? Answer me now!" Naruto asked but Haku ignored him which angered him even more. Haku dissolved again inside his mirrors and began attacking sasuke mercilessly with his needles again, sasuke cried out and naruto screamed

"SASUKE! I'M COMING MATE!"

"Naruto nooo!" moaned sasuke trying to cry out a warning but the needles distracted him. Far away down the bridge kakashi and sakura had seen naruto enter the fight and kakashi tutted.

"That idiot! Has he got no brain?"

"Kakashi, let's begin our battle" Zabuza snarled and he rushed backwards so he had a clear space between kakashi and himself

"Hidden mist jutsu!" he cried and immediately an impenetrable mist surrounded them

"Not this again!" Kakashi said not at all unnerved

"You think I haven't learned a thing since I was sick? I know all about that sharingan and about its weaknesses, you simply give your opponents the illusion that you can see in their minds, but you can't, at the end of the day, you're just a copy ninja, without that sharingan you are NOTHING!" Zabuza boomed out of the mist.

"Now kakashi let me say to you the same words that you said to me, before I passed out, I see your future and it is your death!"

"Sasuke look I'm here, you okay!" cried a naïve naruto who was now inside the dome holding sasuke looking at his wounds, sasuke sat up, blood dribbling down his lip, a thousand needles poking out of his body but he gave naruto a contemptuous look,

"Naruto! Why did you come in here? What have I always said? Think before you act you dope, you could have been more helpful, outside the dome?"

"HEY HEY! What's with this attitude you ungrateful wretch, maybe we could work together and defeat this guy how about that logic?"

"We know NOTHING about him, you could have observed him from outside but you've put yourself and me in danger by jumping in like you always do!"

"Listen sasuke if you keep going on with this attitude I'll just get out of here right now!"

"And how exactly are you going to do that? HUH!"

"ENOUGH!" Haku practically nearly screamed and immediately the two genins got distracted by a barrage of needles cutting them up in all different places

"AGHHHH!" both sasuke and naruto screamed, they got thrown backwards and landed on the ground

"You're going to pay for that" whispered naruto sitting up slowly, he was aching all over and the cuts he had produced drew fresh blood

"It is futile, you cannot defeat me, and you can't match my speed" Haku explained and again attacked them

"Naruto! Stop with your wise cracks and let's focus on getting out of here, we have to stop fighting!" Sasuke screamed

"I agree! I have an idea, you said you have to find out how this technique works and which one is the real Haku right, and there is nothing that could help me figure that out other than my shadow clones" Naruto said 

"What about your chakra?" asked sasuke as they continued to get stabbed with the needles.

"You know me sasuke, I never give up, my stamina is greater than yours, just believe in me!" Naruto cried and made some hand seals "Shadow clone jutsu" immediately thousands of clones occupied the dome floor and started trying to smash the mirrors around them, as quick as lightening a black thing that was probably Haku leapt around them and immediately the clones were once again gone

"Can you do it again?" asked sasuke as they stood huffing and puffing on the ground

"What do you want to do? Get killed, I told you already its useless" Haku said a little bit of irritation becoming more and more apparent in his voice and again he and all his clones began throwing more needles at the oncoming naruto horde of clones.

After five attempts of this naruto, finally reached his limit and fell to the ground totally exhausted

"Have you seen anything sasuke?" croaked naruto from the ground

"His speed is amazing, even I can't follow him and I have the sharpest eyes" sasuke whispered "But I swore I saw something last time so, naruto, can you do it one last time?"

"Sure, whatever you want sasuke" naruto said and began to limply get to his feet

"He's so exhausted" Sasuke thought to himself "I hate doing this to him and I hope he can last, but I can't be more sure that I saw something last time" Naruto cried out his command and again the clones leapt to attention to try and smash open Haku's mirrors and finally something happened to sasuke's vision, the first three times naruto had performed the technique he had seen nothing, now his vision became weirdly clearer and he could just about make out where Haku was, he performed his special fire technique

"Fire style, fireball jutsu!" and a ball of flame went zooming towards the position sasuke predicted Haku was about to go, but his eyes widened when he saw haku dodge it easily and return to another mirror.

"Naruto! Once more please!" Sasuke roared, Naruto nodded and with the last of his chakra he produced on more set of shadow clones, this time sasuke knew that he had to aim the fireball seconds before Haku reached his destination so he produced the fireball technique much more quicker this time and he was able to clip Haku's robes, marking him as the real Haku.

"Yes!" sasuke whispered to himself but there was a usual silence, Naruto and Haku were both looking at sasuke's face

"What is it dope?" asked sasuke smiling at last "I got him I know"

"It's your sharingan sasuke, its been activated!" cried naruto, huffing and puffing sasuke turned to a mirror beside him, ignoring the clone of Haku he was able to see his reflection vaguely and he could see that his eyes had gone red and his pupil were encircled by two black tomoes in his right eye and only one in his left

"It's still awakening, but its something" sasuke said and turned to smile at naruto, but nobody was there, his friend had fallen over in exhaustion

"Naruto"

"It's too late, his reached his limit" Haku said "So have you, you both have done exceptionally well but I'm afraid you're both done for"

"Oh yeah, don't underestimate me, come on, show me what you've really got!" sasuke shouted and cursed himself because he was sounding like naruto, but Haku hesitated, sasuke's vision was slightly wobbling and he made the beginner's mistake of looking away from his enemy and that's what Haku wanted, instead of blocking the attack that he thought was coming for him sasuke was shocked to see Haku zooming over to naruto's weakened body

"NARUTO NO!" sasuke screamed and made a run for it, time slowed but then sped back up because of sasuke's willpower and he took the kunai that was meant for naruto to his chest, grabbed Haku by his thin arms and spun him around and sent him with amazing force crashing backwards into the mirror in front, Haku's back hit the mirror hard and he slipped down and landed heavily on the ground, he became still. Sasuke could only breathe in and out in shock and coughed up something wet that dribbled down his lips, he slowly and painfully looked down and saw the kunai embedded in his ribs, he couldn't believe it, naruto had killed him, why, why did he move? Why.

"Sasuke" Naruto whispered as he opened his eyes slowly, opening and closing it, his vision cleared immediately though, when he saw sasuke standing in front of him and Haku on the ground, unmoving.

"SASUKE YOU DID IT! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT, WELL DONE!" Naruto cried unable to believe it but then his eyes widened in horror, his heart began to beat wildly as he saw the state his friend was in, he pulled himself up and staggered around sasuke and saw that the kunai, the blood, the fatality that his friend's life was in, his feet felt like it had abandoned his body, tears erupted from his eyes, he could only ask "Why?"

"I don't know, my feet just moved, darn it!" croaked sasuke coughing more violently this time and he collapsed onto the ground, naruto saved his fall, he cradled sasuke in his arms like a baby, sasuke looked up at the dome's ceiling, his vision wobbled and he felt on the brink of death

"Naruto his still out there, It-itachi" sasuke whispered grabbing naruto's jacket to get his attention "Promise me when you become hokage that you will look for him and bring him, to justice"

"I thought you wanted me to kill him? WE were meant to kill him" Naruto whispered back, tears falling down on sasuke's body

"No I don't believe I'll be able to kill him, but I know you will become a great hokage and you will be able to capture him, naruto whatever you do, don't give up… on your dream" Sasuke said and with that his last breathe left him, his hands that were nearly touching the blonde's face fell to the ground, lifeless, his head lolled. Naruto's eyes couldn't take in what he was seeing, he only knew that his friend, his best friend, wasn't waking up, the pain that entered his heart was unbearable

"Sasuke, SASUKE DON'T, NO NO, DON'T GO!" Naruto roared his voice echoing around the dome "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" and with that he began crying like an infant over his friend's body 

"He found a strength that he hadn't shown before now" Haku whispered behind naruto "He was a true shinobi"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Naruto growled his voice both demonic and human, Haku looked up and was scared when he saw a ring of fire surrounding naruto's body, it circled naruto protectively for a while then slowly rose up as if sheltering both boys, suddenly naruto's appearance began to change, his face became more pointy like a fox's, his eyes narrowed, his teeth became like fangs, his hands became claws and he started crouching over like a beast

"Who is this guy?" thought Haku "What strange chakra does he possess, the look in his eyes, this is not a normal child!" naruto interrupted haku's musings when he roared loudly at him, immediately all the mirrors around Haku began to break and shatter around all of them, before Haku could run for safety naruto darted after him like a predator after his prey, Haku ran left, then turned trying to confuse naruto but the boy was easily able to turn directions and immediately he had Haku by the arms, the chakra felt hot on Haku's skin and it distracted him so he wasn't able to block the body shattering punch naruto aimed at his face, knocking him skywards and immediately dispelling the ice mirrors technique.

Naruto's rage couldn't be stopped and as haku was flying backwards, a yard from him, he sprinted after him and clawed his clothes, Haku who had half a mask on and half off panicked and leapt backwards trying to get away from the angered kyuubi host but again naruto clawed him this time he was able to take off the whole mask, Haku sheltered his face as naruto's hand descended again this time intending for the face and flesh, Haku saw a timeline of his life flash before his eyes.

But naruto stopped. Haku continued to breathe heavily in fear but realised naruto wasn't going to attack him, his eyes returned to its normal blue colour, his teeth returned to normal and his hands; the red chakra that enveloped him slowly dispersed.

"What are you doing?" Haku teased "I thought you were about to avenge your friend's death"

"Have you got a brain at all? Zabuza is only using you, he doesn't give you any thanks for nothing and you just kill sasuke, some innocent person because of his sick wishes?" asked naruto

"I thought you wanted to be a shinobi, this is what all ninjas face everyday; do you believe you and I are so different?" Haku said "You are part of a system that gives commands for you to kill people just as much as I do and when you fail, they can eliminate you"

"Shut your face! Just because you abandoned your village doesn't mean I'll abandon mine, I want people to respect me not fear me!" snarled naruto

"Then kill me, go on, show me how much you care for your village and your comrades!" Haku said smiling, naruto wasn't standing for that and gave Haku a punch to the face for it, Haku stumbled back his lip split but he continued to glare at naruto as if expecting him to hit him again, like he enjoyed the pain.

"What's your problem? Why do you love living like this?" asked naruto

"Because I have no choice, I have no purpose in this world, being zabuza's tool is alright for him and me" Haku replied "I'll tell you my story then after that you may kill me, to rid me of my past and uncertain future"

"I was brought up in the land of the mist, my mother and father fell in love and married but my mother was keeping a secret from him" Haku explained

"What secret? What what? Tell me!" Naruto begged

"It wasn't her fault or mine, that we had it, it is passed down in the blood" Haku said going off into his world

"What is it?" asked naruto

"Kekkei Genkai, a blood inheritance trait with special powers handed down through blood, within a particular clan, from mother to daughter, father to son, at the time I was born, people with these special powers were hunted down and killed, it was because the people feared them because other villages would use them against their countrymen in civil wars and such like. It was bloody times and so my mother, to protect herself and me (when I came along) hid her powers away and never used them. But one day I made the mistake of using it"

"Then what happened?" asked naruto, Haku paused for a while then replied

"My father saw it and tried to kill me" Naruto's eyes widened in shock, the ground shook underneath his feet like there was a mini earthquake

"I escaped and zabuza came across me on a bridge, I was just a beggar boy destined to die in the snow, but he saved me and together we left the mist village and started off to find our purposes in life, well the dreams for him, I was prepared to fight his battles loyally as his servant"

"Do you know how sick that sounds?" asked naruto crossing his arms and comically screwing up his face

"But now I've failed, I didn't kill you as I should have done and because of that I deserve to die, will you kill me naruto" Haku looked at naruto his eyes blank he stood before naruto expecting the blonde to do him this sick favour.

"You must not have liked him that much" Haku said

"Huh what are you yapping about?" asked naruto

"The boy, your teammate because you won't kill me" Haku replied, he had gone too far, naruto's hand holding the kunai shook and he lifted it so that Haku could see it

"He meant everything to me; he was a brother to me and because of what you've done, I'll be glad to kill you" Then closing his eyes naruto made a dash towards haku "Sasuke had a lot of dreams and you will pay for destroying them!"

Suddenly Haku grabbed naruto's wrist

"Huh what are you-!" he began

"Sorry naruto, something has come up" Haku replied and with that he made a one hand seal and vanished from sight, naruto stumbled forwards and stood straight not believing his eyes.

"AGH! He tricked me!" cried naruto and dashed off into the mist. He didn't know where to go and he stood still remembering that kakashi and zabuza were fighting, suddenly he realised the action had gone quiet and the mist was vanishing, naruto, through the thick mist was slowly able to see two outlines in the distance, one was surrounded by different shaped figures another was standing in a fighting stance with his fist out in front of him in the chest of another figure, slowly naruto saw that haku was the one in between the tall figures and he sprinted up to them, 

"HAKU!" Naruto called but he stopped dead in his tracks, Haku had a pool of blood at his feet, his eyes were open in shock and his face was plastered with blood, kakashi's hands were deep inside his chest but he pulled it out seeing as though the boy was dead, zabuza stood rooted to the ground with dogs all over him and Tazuna and sakura were safely down the bridge looking at the fight anxiously.

"He jumped in, as I was about to finish zabuza off" kakashi answered naruto's question "I couldn't stop and so he took the hit, to protect his master, he was a true comrade" There was a long silence, naruto tried not to cry, both for sasuke and for haku, who was just a misguided youth who, although he killed sasuke, didn't deserve such a death sentence, he would never have been able to kill him.

"Well done Haku" zabuza whispered loud enough for kakashi to hear and suddenly kakashi's eyes widened when he saw that zabuza was about to chop through both Haku and himself to kill him "I KNEW I HAD FOUND A TREASURE WHEN I FOUND YOU BOY, YOU HAVE NOT ONLY GIVEN AWAY YOUR LIFE BUT THAT OF KAKASHI HATAKE'S AS WELL!" Kakashi was able to swiftly grab Haku in time and jump away from the attack; he landed crouched and placed haku on the ground, closing the boy's eyes to make him look more peaceful. 

"You evil bastard, you'll pay for that!" screamed naruto making to run towards zabuza

"Naruto no! I'll deal with him" kakashi cried sternly, he was pissed now at zabuza, nobody ever disrespects the dead in front of kakashi ever.

After a while of fighting in which kakashi had mercilessly disarmed zabuza by breaking his arms zabuza stopped fighting and stopped for a reprieve.

"Zabuza I am very disappointed with you, were you really willing to kill Haku just to finish me off? After all you've been through, how can you betray him like that?" asked kakashi

"Haku knew about what he was getting into, all the time I was with him!" Zabuza smirked

"No he was a kid, he didn't think you'll stab him in the back to save your own life after all the times his saved your life!" shouted naruto "Haku lived for you, he gave you everything, his childhood, his dreams, everything! And you sent him off to work like some tool, even though he was soft by nature and killing people tormented his soul, he still did it, he did it, and boy you're so cold, so COLD that you didn't care at all!" At that point naruto began to cry, real loud sobs that racked through zabuza's very soul.

Tear drops stained the floor.

"Kid you talk too much" zabuza sobbed

"Naruto! Where's sasuke?" cried sakura suddenly realising that naruto was alone, naruto tried to stop crying but he cried harder and sakura knew, she slowly looked behind them and saw the body of sasuke laying on the ground, she sprinted towards him in tears as kakashi lowered in head in sorrow.

There came a disturbance from the other end of the bridge, tazuna, kakashi and zabuza turned and saw a rowdy crowd of rogue ninjas each carrying an instrument of death in their hands, from machetes to samurai swords they had gathered, in the middle stood Gatou.

"What are you doing here?" asked zabuza rudely

"I'm sorry to inform you about this zabuza, but starting from now I've gone back on our little wager, you're off the books! Now please stand still as my men kill you off" Gatou said matter of factly, zabuza's eyes narrowed in anger at the betrayal and naruto even felt a little bit sorry for zabuza now that he was about to get a beating when he was practically defenceless.

"Smash him up boys!" ordered Gatou and immediately the thugs stampeded towards Zabuza, naruto made to perform hand seals but zabuza gently stopped him

"No I deserve this, my last way for the villagers of this land to forgive me, I will save them from these scumbags once and for all, give me your kunai boy and don't weep for me if I die"

"Zabuza" Naruto whispered but did as he said and gave zabuza his kunai, zabuza held the kunai in his teeth and immediately charged towards the gang of blood lusted thugs in front of him. He began hacking them to bits as he sprinted through the crowd, he came to the middle and had already took out a fair amount of men before reality caught up with a few of them and they stabbed zabuza straight in the back from behind, but zabuza ignored the pain and headed straight for Gatou, for the second demon of the mist or waves, Gatou panicked and ran backwards but it was too late zabuza stabbed him in the chest and came to a halt.

"You, you will pay for this" Gatou said

"I doubt I will do that, we're both leaving this planet and going to hell, HELL gatou, there are no angels like Haku waiting for us down there, just demons and more demons, some of them I hear are more vicious and cruel than I am, I should fit in well, but you Gatou, I DOUBT ITTT!" and with that zabuza began slashing Gatou in an X with the kunai across his body, Gatou shocked by the onslaught took way too much steps backwards and went over the edge of the half finished bridge leaving a exhausted zabuza behind.

Zabuza turned around and made his way back through the crowd, none of the thugs dared to touch him but made him walk with dignity back to the one person that he loved, Haku,

"Haku, haku, I'm so, sorry" gasped zabuza and fell down beside his friend, he stayed face down on the ground for a moment until he mumbled kakashi's name, kakashi calmly went over to zabuza and turned him so that he was laying on his back

"Take me to Haku, to lie beside him, please this is the last favour I will ask you" Zabuza begged, kakashi paused before pulling his eyepatch over his sharingan and said

"Ok" he laid zabuza next haku, zabuza turned his head so that he could look at haku's angelic, peaceful face, zabuza wished he could just touch those lips and kiss his forehead, he was a true friend, almost a son to him

"Haku I hope you can forgive me, I wish you well on your journey to heaven" zabuza whispered and tears streamed down his face slowly. Suddenly the heavens gave way to snow flakes, it was drifting down and all over the landscape that was the wave country.

"Snow" Naruto commented

"HEY!" roared a voice; Kakashi looked up and saw that the thugs were still on the bridge

"We're not leaving here until we get paid" said one thug

"Let's raid the village, they will put up small resistance" said another thug and all the other thugs roared in approval

"Not on our watch!" screamed a small childish voice, everyone on the bridge turned and naruto smiled widely when he saw Inari standing on the bridge accompanied by all the villagers in the village

"Gonna still try and raid our village!" asked Eji, Tazuna's friend, Tazuna tried not to cry in delight as all the villagers went stampeding towards the thugs, they ignored that they had weapons but luckily their fury alone made the thugs forget their plan of piracy and they left the bridge, either dropping off the edge into boats or the sea below.

Naruto bought a bunch of flowers to the graveside of zabuza and haku the day they were about to leave the wave country, a newly recovered sasuke who luckily hadn't been stabbed in a vital point in his body came with him, he needed naruto to help support him with walking so with one hand naruto had the flowers while the other held onto sasuke to support him. Naruto laid the flowers on both graves and stood back and looked at the graves.

"He was a good person you know" sasuke whispered "He could have killed me, but he didn't, at the last moment when he could have, he didn't, I don't understand"

"Yeah but some people would ask you why you saved me right?" asked naruto lifting his eyebrows at sasuke, sasuke tried not to catch the blonde haired boy's eyes and became silent.

The departure finally came and both parties were sad to go, the bridge had been completed and it was firmly locked onto the main land

"You guys are welcome back anytime, you hear" Tazuna said making it impossible for any negative replies

"Oh yeah thank you, we would love to come back" Kakashi replied rubbing his head nervously

"Oh yeah naruto we named the bridge last night while you were asleep, guess what it's called!" Inari interrupted

"What?"

"The great Naruto bridge" Inari replied, naruto felt touched and tried not to cry, luckily Inari looked ready to start the waterworks and because of pride naruto wanted him to go first

"Go on mate, let it all out"

"No naruto, you do it" Inari replied his nose practically dripping but his eyes didn't burst

"No, no it's cool you know, what have I told you about letting your feelings out" Naruto sobbed his face screwed up trying desperately not to cry

"Kakashi sensei, let's go, this could take hours" Sakura whispered and began making her way down the bridge, sasuke and kakashi followed leaving naruto and Inari shaking with suppressed emotion.

The end


	8. Chapter 8: The chuunin exams, a new era

Chapter 8: A new era begins! The chuunin exams & new rivals

Naruto's alarm clock once again went off and he slowly got up, he had some dribble hanging from his mouth but ignoring that he slowly stopped the clock from beeping, he yawned, stretched and looked across to sasuke's bed, but again as he expected the uchiha heir had already got up, there was a sheet of manila paper on top of sasuke's bed and naruto went over to investigate.

It said: "Get your butt down to the red bridge, kakashi is waiting for us!" Naruto cursed himself for being late again but reckoned he could take his time and eat some ramen; kakashi sensei was always late anyway.

He locked the door to his and sasuke's apartment did some warming up stretches and sprinted towards the famous Shinto bridge to join his teammates.

Sasuke and Sakura were standing alone, on the bridge as usual because kakashi sensei was late, sasuke looked irritated and sakura just looked ticked off that she had arrived early again.

"Hi guys!" cried naruto giving them a friendly wave

"Hi naruto" Sakura gushed and sasuke replied a little offhandedly

"Where's sensei?" asked naruto

"Where do you think? Seriously I'm considering getting a new jounin instructor at this rate!" snapped sasuke and, feeling guilty, turned from them. Suddenly a flicker of black appeared on the bridge's roof and there appeared kakashi squatting on the roof looking down at them.

"Yo guys, sorry about being late, I'm afraid I got lost on the path of life"

"YEAH RIGHT!" snapped sakura and sasuke together; naruto just giggled and rubbed his hair. Kakashi jumped down

"I guess we can start our missions for today then"

Their first mission was helping out an old lady de-weed her garden, she instructed the genins to pull up the weeds but leave the plants that she was personally growing and went inside, sasuke got straight to it and started pulling up the weeds, after a while of hard working sasuke wondered how naruto was getting on and turned, his eyes widened comically when he saw naruto pulling up the weeds BUT also the plants that the lady had grown as well.

"Err naruto, wait a second!" gasped sasuke and ran over to the blonde idiot

"What sasuke! Don't bother me I'm on a mission" Naruto snapped again reaching down to pull out, not a weed but more plants

"That's just it, you dope, you're pulling up plants instead of weeds!" hissed sasuke trying not to shout too loud because he didn't want the lady to hear him from inside.

"Yeah right! You're telling me a bunch of lies now to stop me from getting a good mission report? What's the matter with you? Just because I'm faster than you, you think I'm an idiot" snarled naruto and ignored sasuke and continued to pull at the weeds, sasuke wrapped his hand around the plants in naruto's hand to try and stop naruto from making the biggest mistake of his life

"SASUKE get off! I'm not pulling at the plants!" roared naruto "Ever since you got back from the wave country you've been acting like a jerk" there was the sound of a door slamming and both genins stopped and fearfully turned around to look at who had came out of the house behind them, there stood the robust lady, her face was red and she had a long broom in her hands

"OI YOU LITTLE SHITS! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" she screamed spit flying from her mouth like a sprinkler

"Ermm, pulling out your weeds?" replied naruto dumbly

"THOSE AREN'T WEEDS THOSE ARE MY PLANTS, YOU GUYS BETTER GET READY FOR A POUNDING!" the lady replied back nastily and the next thing sasuke and naruto felt was the wooden broom handle descending painfully on their buttocks

"OW OW! WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL YOU OLD FAT BAT!" naruto howled as he and sasuke left the garden with their hands over their buttocks while sakura tried desperately to dissuade the land owner from going after her teammates

"You must forgive naruto, he has a mental condition, doesn't think properly, I promise to provide money to help you restore your garden back to its right condition" Sakura persuaded routinely.

After the last mission ended in a disaster sasuke decided to let naruto do things on his own, the two were forced to walk around all day with sore bums thanks to him anyway; however he was forced to save naruto from going head first down a waterfall when they went on a fishing mission.

Their last mission was to take a villager's dogs out for a walk, sasuke smartly choose the smallest dog he could find, sakura did the same but naruto, always the one to love challenges helped himself to the biggest dog of the pack. Even kakashi sensei needed to make sure that naruto was in the real world at this moment in time

"Err naruto, are you sure you want that dog?" he asked

"Of course sensei, now stop with all these lectures and let's start moving guys!" Naruto snapped back, kakashi shrugged his shoulders and they headed off, sasuke and sakura walked off easily leaving naruto to yank and pull the biggest dog along behind them.

Of course even that mission ended prematurely as well, since kakashi and sasuke had to help naruto stop the dog from going into a minefield, the dog, who ten minutes later had forgotten that naruto was its leader had decided to run off towards the dangerous field. Naruto was saved just in time and kakashi decided it was best for him to take charge of the dog for the last few minutes of its walk.

Finally all their missions came to an end a little while later, they were seen walking through a narrow alleyway behind some houses, they were all tired but naruto was feeling worst for wear, being the only team member to not complete any of his missions properly.

"Well guys this is where I'll have to leave you" Kakashi said after stopping and giving a quick glance at the sky, naruto noticed a black hawk circling around up ahead but he paid no attention, kakashi puffed and vanished leaving sasuke, sakura and naruto alone

"Hi sasuke! Want to go out to the bbq restaurant tonight?" asked sakura

"No I'm sorry I have to train, another time okay" sasuke replied stiffly as he always do when people preferred pleasure over training "Naruto are you coming?"

"No. Actually sakura do you want to go out with me? I'm not doing much" Naruto suggested, sakura turned heatedly towards naruto and answered

"No I wouldn't, you put me in a shitty position today with that villager, why don't you think naruto? You can be such a burden sometimes"

"So can you" said a voice, sakura turned confused and saw sasuke staring coldly at her

"What?" asked sakura upset as she put her hand to her mouth trying not to cry

"Instead of scolding naruto, why don't you focus on your moves once in a while, to be honest you're even worst than naruto, all bark but no bite" said sasuke coldly, sakura felt like she had been punched in the stomach with a hammer, she tried not to cry as sasuke walked off but she felt angry at sasuke at calling her weak and envious at naruto was deserving of sasuke's trust for absolutely nothing else than simply because they live together.

While sakura was basically trying not to cry in front of him, naruto sensed a presence behind him, a rectangular rock was moving around behind him, sighing in annoyance he pointed to the rock

"Rectangle rocks, come on this is getting too obvious konohamaru!" Naruto cried, konohamaru had come onto the scene after he had graduated from the academy, basically he was the hokage's grandson but naruto didn't care about his status, he was konohamaru to him and nobody else, konohamaru looked up to naruto and viewed him as a rival for the tittle of hokage, one day they had promised to battle for the tittle but at the moment, konohamaru was just an academy student and couldn't even disguise himself as a passable rock.

"Hehehe you saw through my technique again boss, as I would expect from my greatest rival" replied a muffled boyish voice and immediately there came a blinding light, naruto thought this was a super attack and went into a fighting stance but it was just gunpowder and it had gone wrong, three small kids lay coughing on the ground in front of naruto, the middle one, a black punk haired boy was konohamaru himself

"I'm moegi the coolest kunoichi in preschool!" announced the little girl with orange hair, red cheeks and beady black eyes wearing a pair of goggles on her head, wearing a flowery top and a skirt.

"I love algebra call me udon!" introduced a bespectacled short dark brown haired boy with snot hanging off his nose, wearing goggles also

"And I'm the number one ninja in the village, konohamaru" konohamaru said "And together we are the konohamaru ninja corps!"

"Yeah hi!" Naruto said aloofly, the group nearly fell over by naruto's off hand greeting

"Naruto come on, we were looking everywhere for you, do you want to play ninja with us?" asked konohamaru

"HA! A ninja playing ninja, that's pathetic!" said a voice behind naruto and the small kids, naruto turned and saw sakura coming towards him looking dark eyed

"Hi sakura, yeah well it's a good game to play with them, extra training for them you see" Naruto babbled trying to disguise his unease at her staring at him, she looked sexy when she was angry

"Boss what's the big deal, you never said anything about training?" asked konohamaru naively, he looked at sakura eyeing naruto up and back at naruto who was trying not to blush, konohamaru suddenly misinterpreting nudged naruto knowingly.

"OH its ok boss you don't have to keep secrets from me you know" whispered konohamaru smirking slightly

"What?" asked naruto

"I know she's your girlfriend!" konohamaru blurted out poking his finger into the circle his other hand had created suggesting an intimate position, sakura's eyebrows immediately knotted together in anger at the rude suggestion and didn't even wait for naruto to brief konohamaru discreetly before she soccer punched naruto so hard he got lifted backwards and smacked into the fence beside them

"OMG! What kind of girlfriend are you? you big forehead freak!" snarled konohamaru, he was a kid determined to stick up for his senior in years but konohamaru made the mistake of attacking sakura's appearance and he would regret it, sakura immediately turned from being calm into a terrifying girl from the exorcist and began sprinting towards konohamaru at high speed.

Frightened to death, konohamaru made a run for it and bumped into a strange boy of around 13 or 15, he wore face make up and mascara on his eyes and a black jumpsuit that made him look like a cat standing on its two feet, behind him stood a fit looking girl with blonde hair in two ponytails and crystal blue eyes, around the girl's waist and on the boy's head was displayed a headband with a strange symbol on it.

"Ouch that hurt you little runt" snarled the boy aggressively, the girl didn't look too friendly either, naruto and sakura knew there was going to be trouble.

"Say sorry you snot nosed brat!" threatened the black suited boy holding konohamaru up by the scruff of his neck, slightly choking him

"Let him go! His just a kid!" roared naruto standing up immediately, the boy stopped threatening konohamaru and just looked at naruto, naruto couldn't afford to let konohamaru get hurt and made a dash for the stranger, suddenly there appeared a pain in his foot and naruto yelped and was back on the ground, sakura tried to reason with the newcomers.

"Listen his just a child, please forgive him, its all my fault really"

"You guys…are annoying" replied the youth, naruto and sakura became as still as statues in fear

"After I deal with this brat, I'm going to kill all of you" the boy snarled and he brought his fist back, held konohamaru away from his chest preparing to punch the small kid in the stomach, suddenly he cried in pain as a rock smashed painfully into his wrist, another rapped his knuckles making him drop konohamaru, konohamaru fell and quickly crawled backwards towards naruto, the boy in front looked up at a tree where he predicted the rocks had come from and there sat sasuke on a tree branch throwing a stone up and down in his hand coolly.

"Sasuke!" cried naruto in relief

"You guys are like bugs, always creeping out of nowhere, you in the tree get down here and fight me!" roared the boy still clutching his hand

"Leave us alone" sasuke replied crushing the stone in his hand to dust

"Go on sasuke, beat him to a pulp!" shouted konohamaru and the little kids

"Kankurou, that's enough" said a nasally voice, sasuke's eyes widened as he realised there was someone on a branch on the other side of the tree he was occupying, turning to look around the tree he saw a kid perched upside down from a branch, he had very short red hair, mascara painted eyes and black stone cold eyes, he was pale with a slight tint of a tan in his skin and he wore a desert garb with a gourd on his back

"Oh, hello gaara, how is it going?" asked the boy called kankurou casually

"I'm going to kill you" hissed gaara

"It was just a bit of fun gaara, just fun, we're leaving now ok" Kankurou said panicking slightly, sweat pouring down his face, sasuke noticed how pent up and nervous this guy made his comrades and knew immediately he must be powerful

"Nobody is this smooth with their chakra other than kakashi sensei, this guy, his powerful" sasuke thought, gaara vanished in a whirlwind of sand and appeared on the ground beside kankurou and without another word between them they started to leave.

"Wait! What's your name!" cried sasuke jumping off the tree, misinterpreting the blonde haired girl of the trio turned and said flirtatiously

"Are you talking to me sweety?"

"No the guy with the gourd on his back, I want an introduction" Sasuke replied pointing to the mysterious red haired boy in front, the boy whose name was supposedly gaara turned and answered

"I am gaara of the desert this is my brother and sister, Temari and Kankurou and I'm interested in you too, what is your name?"

"I'm sasuke Uchiha" said sasuke proudly not bothering to introduce his team at all. Naruto narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

"Hey you want to know my name?"

"I really don't care what your name is" Gaara replied and started to walk off, naruto saw Temari sticking around looking at sasuke and jumped in front of her.

"By the way sexy, I'm Naruto Uzumaki, future hokage and the strongest ninja in the leaf village, believe it!" naruto announced coyly.

"Ha-ha, you're funny" Temari said scornfully and walked away.

"Hold on! I can see from your headbands, that you hail from the hidden sand village, of course the land of fire and the land of wind are allies, but no shinobi can enter another's village, without permission!, so state your purpose and it better be good!" interrupted sakura, the trio stopped walking abruptly.

"You guys don't know about the exams do you?" Temari replied "We have permission and you're right, we are sand genin, our home is the hidden sand village and we're here for the chuunin exams, get the picture sister?"

"The chunnin exams" sakura whispered

"What are they?" asked naruto a little slow as always.

"Boss those are the exams every genin needs to take in order to become a chuunin" konohamaru said matter of factly.

"Man that's so cool, I can't wait for it" Naruto replied excitedly and continued to pound konohamaru for more information.

(The next day)

The next day found team seven standing on the red bridge, they had seen kakashi sensei's black crow flying over where they had bumped into the mysterious sand genin a while ago and headed straight over to where they usually met their sensei,

"Chuunin exams, chuunin exams, hey sasuke I bet you're excited right" naruto sang

"Of course these exams sound interesting" sasuke replied smiling.

Kakashi arrived a few minutes later, again told them some stupid excuse for his lateness and he jumped down and produced three leaflets.

"These are consent forms for the chuunin exams that are just around the corner in July, I hope you guys don't mind but I took the liberty of signing team seven up for them" Kakashi explained giving out the leaflets.

"Kakashi sensei! Thank you" cried naruto joyfully and jumped into kakashi's arms.

"Hey don't slobber on the vest!" snapped kakashi and put naruto down, he then continued "Now I'll give all of you 2 days to make up your minds on whether you want to compete or not, if you decide to participate the enrolment date is three days from now in the academy building on the third floor, I hope you all decide to do it because you will not only be improving team working skills but your own individual skills as well and seeing how you flare against other genins your own age, now that's about it, you are free to go home"

"Man! I can't believe it! This exam sounds so cool!" whispered naruto as he and sasuke made their way back to their apartment "sasuke we have to work and train hard you hear"

"I hear you there; starting tomorrow I'm going to start more intense training" sasuke replied "By the way what's in the fridge for dinner?"

"Ramen" replied naruto.

"Should have known" sasuke sighed.

The next day saw millions of different genin from different villages arriving in the city; naruto looked out from the balcony in nothing but his green shorts and white t-shirt at the slow moving crowds filing into the village from the big gates.

"Sasuke! They're here! I see sound ninjas, ninjas from the grass, rain, mist from all over!" Naruto cried.

"Well dope, it is an international competition, it says so on the leaflet" said sasuke calmly, he was used to naruto getting overexcited over the simplest things; he was getting ready to go training already.

"Hey are you coming for a training session?" asked sasuke impatiently.

"Nah I promised the konohamaru corps that I'll play ninja with them again" Naruto replied still looking at the crowd of teams walking around outside.

"Ok, just make sure you get some kind of training in won't you" sasuke said and closed the door behind him.

A few hours later naruto arrived at the red bridge, konohamaru, moegi and udon were waiting for him excitedly.

"Naruto! Big bro!" called konohamaru waving to get naruto's attention, naruto who thought he could sense something brushed it off and waved at the youngsters, they came running up to him.

"So you're still on for playing ninja?" asked konohamaru

"Yeah, believe it, you won't escape from me this time" Naruto cried enthusiastically

"Ok then, on the count of 3 we'll go, 1, 2 – hey what the!" began konohamaru, then he broke off abruptly when the small boy found his and teammates' path blocked by a tall guy with a traveller's conical hat on, a pair of blue robes on and a grey overcoat, he had on the headband of the hidden waterfall village, he had half his face covered by a grey cloth and he giggled cruelly and grabbed moegi.

"Oi! You let moegi go you big ape!" konohamaru screamed waving an angry fist at the stranger.

"You'll have to catch me first!" boomed the stranger and immediately he starting sprinting away into the nearby forest.

"Moegi!" cried konohamaru and sprinted after the stranger.

"You're in luck you big oaf, I wanted to start training anyhow!" Naruto said and ran after konohamaru and udon.

A while later naruto found the mysterious stranger in a forest clearing; he had tied moegi to a tree and was standing guard near to her with a kunai pointed threateningly at her throat.

"Oi what do you think you're doing?" roared naruto angrily

"What am I doing? Are you really asking me that question? I guess you don't want to see this girl alive any time soon!" the stranger snickered.

"What girl? All I see is two dummies, you and the one next to you!" replied naruto grinning widely, the stranger looked to the tree and saw that moegi had disappeared and instead there was a straw puppet tied to the tree in her place.

"Up here!" said a voice and the stranger looked up and was amazed to see naruto standing with moegi on a tree branch not far away from them.

"Amazing, his speed" the stranger thought to himself "He was able to find us and to create a substitution jutsu that fast?" he paused and giggled "I must admit I'm quite shocked, it looks like you leaf ninja are quite impressive, but beware of the exam, they are much deadlier than this, I can assure you, we'll see how you do"

And with that he vanished.

"Hey boss why didn't you catch him?" cried konohamaru looking at a embarrassed naruto.

"Don't worry mate, I will see him again at the chunnin exams" Naruto said edgily with narrowed eyes.

Naruto took the three academy kids back to the city and told them that he had to postpone their game for that day, they weren't happy but naruto could sense something was up and went to check on sasuke, he was relieved when he saw the uchiha heir coming from the forest looking relatively okay.

"Naruto did you see a ninja from the grass village on your wonderings?" asked sasuke alarmingly

"YES! He tried to kidnap moegi but its okay he vanished and moegi is safe" naruto replied, suddenly he became worried "Oh no what about sakura? I have a feeling this guy has a thing for leaf ninjas"

"Come on let's check to see if she's home" sasuke said, naruto was surprised the uchiha was as worried as he was, maybe the apathetic boy could change.

They went to sakura's house and asked her mum if she was home.

"Sasuke" sakura's mom cried fearfully "I thought sakura went out with you"

"Oh no, sakura" Naruto began but sasuke interrupted.

"Its okay ma'am, I just lost her in town, I'll find her" and he and naruto went to look around konoha immediately.

They were lucky to find sakura coming from the training grounds looking as cool as a cucumber after spending at least an hour looking for her.

"Hi guys, what's up?" she asked

"Naruto was worried about you" sasuke replied turning uninterested again, naruto looked at sasuke feeling betrayed and nervously nodded.

"Well there's nothing to be worried about, I was just training, I'm going home now" sakura replied looking confused and she walked passed sasuke and naruto into town.

"Sakura!" cried naruto, sakura stopped.

"What?" she asked

"Did you see anyone when you were training?" asked naruto not looking at sakura to stop himself from blushing madly.

"Welll I did see a bird and a few squirrels, other than that, no I didn't, goodbye sasuke, naruto" sakura replied and continued on her way home.

"I guess he was just after us then?" asked naruto as sasuke and him returned to their apartment that night.

"I figure that's it, by targeting stronger team members and injuring them, it makes it harder for us to compete in the chunnin exams" sasuke assumed.

"But sensei said we had a choice to compete or not" Naruto said

"Use your brain, anyone wearing a ninja headband is considered a rival in these tournaments, I suppose there will be some ninja that will want to cheat to make the competition more easier, think about what happened yesterday with gaara" Sasuke scolded, naruto looked worried then and then he became excited.

"I guess I have no reason to back out from this tournament after all, it sounds more and more exciting by the minute!"

"Stop it, you're making me excited too, my main target is Gaara, he looks like a good challenge" sasuke whispered.

"Then bring it on then, the chuunin exams!" Naruto cried excitedly.

The end


	9. Chapter 9: Sasuke vs Rock Lee

Chapter 9: Sasuke vs. Rock Lee

The day of the chuunin exam enrolment had begun, Naruto and Sasuke got ready together (naruto as usual slightly half asleep) they brushed their teeth, ate breakfast together and changed into their usual clothes and they left their apartment together to meet sakura, hopefully at the academy entrance.

"What happens if sakura doesn't show up?" asked naruto stating the obvious question that they were both thinking for the past two days.

"I don't know, if anything we'll have to beg kakashi sensei to let us go on ahead" sasuke replied trying not to show his true feelings of nervousness and anxiety.

"I know sakura though, she's a strong girl, I think she will come" Naruto said confidently as they neared the academy gates, they saw crowds of genins lined up outside, waiting for teammates and also going inside, the genins from outside konoha were sticking to themselves mostly, looking around anxiously and excitedly at the competition, there were a few strangely dressed groups that looked like they would rip you to pieces if they got a chance to.

"Naruto! Sasuke!" cried a voice, surprised both naruto and sasuke turned to see sakura running up to them from the academy playground, she had been standing near a tree waiting for them to show.

"Sakura you decided to come!" naruto said happily.

"Well of course, I want to be a medic Nin don't i? I have to go through the ranks as every other ninja" Sakura explained, then she looked at sasuke, she had a weird look on her face, finally realising she was staring she snapped out of it and smiled at the uchiha.

"Hi sasuke" she said

"Hi" sasuke said a little unnerved by the way she was just looking at him.

"So? Are we all going to register then?" asked naruto enthusiastically.

"Yeah, sure" sasuke said and they started to make their way into the academy building, they followed the building around until they got to the first staircase and went up to the first and second floor. When they got to the second floor they were shocked to see that there was a commotion in the middle of the corridor, candidates had come to a stand still and there was the sound of shouting and fists hitting flesh. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura pushed passed people in front to try and see what was going on.

Two young boys wearing leaf head protectors, one had black shaggy hair, the other had brown hair covered by a bandana, he had a little bit of a fringe to cover one eye, they were both standing beside a door that had the number 301 on it, in front of them a scrawny black haired boy with a bowl haircut, big black eyebrows and a green jumpsuit on, was on the ground, the bruises that were on his face suggested that he had been knocked down by these boys.

"Go on baby! Start crying!" said the black spiky haired boy

"Run home to mummy, you're not prepared for this exam!" snarled the brown haired boy

"let us through, we need to register for the exam!" cried the jumpsuit boy and he stood up again trying to get through the door, the brown haired boy as quick as lightening punched him square in the face again, sending him falling back on the ground. A girl (presumably the boy on the ground's teammate) rushed through the crowd and went to her teammate's aid.

"Listen you pricks, let us through! We only have ten minutes before we are due to register! Do you want us to get a proctor down here" she cried, beside her another boy with long black hair stood beside her defensively.

"That's not even 301! We are on the second floor" cried sakura surprising the people around her including the boys by the door. Sakura pushed to the front and sasuke and naruto decided to follow her.

"Reverse the genjutsu already and stop picking on these guys! We are on the second floor not third, so everyone can disperse!" sakura said and she took it upon herself to dispel the genjutsu herself, the sign changed from the number 301 to 201. Everyone gasped in both confusion and anger that they had not seen the genjutsu themselves.

"Oh man! You just destroyed our fun!" cried the brown haired boy and both boys went to attack sakura by kicking her in the back and stomach, naruto wanted to run in to stop the attack but amazingly the boy who had spent the last few minutes getting knocked about was able to as quick as lightening knock sakura out of the way gently and get between the two boys and block the attack by holding both their legs with his hands. There was another gasp. The two boys were shocked.

"His speed is incredible, greater than my own" sasuke thought to himself "How can this weakling move like this?"

"Hey lee! What do you think you're doing? We're not allowed to get involved in petty fights!" said the long black haired boy, (his teammate) scolded.

"I'm sorry, but!" began the boy called Lee and he turned to sakura who had managed to quickly get out of the way in time and was standing in front of lee, lee gave sakura a cheeky wink and said "I couldn't allow these guys to mark this girl's beautiful face"

Sakura blushed and naruto began to slowly fume in anger that another male was flirting with his crush. Lee let go of the two boys, unbalanced, the two boys fell over onto the ground, lee then raised one thumb towards sakura and said;

"Hello I am rock lee; please will you be my girlfriend!"

"Definitely, not I'm afraid" sakura replied feeling guilty

"Why not?" asked lee

"Because you look weird" Sakura replied

Rock lee suddenly became depressed and went over to sulk in the far corner leaving his teammates with team seven, naruto tried not to laugh.

"You guys are kakashi's team right?" asked the long black haired boy with white eyes to sakura.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" asked sakura

"I'll like to introduce myself, I' am Neji Hyuuga, this is Tenten, what are your names?" replied Neji.

"Well I'm sakura Haruno, this is Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha" Sakura said politely, Neji ignored Naruto and looked straight at sasuke.

"I've heard about you, you graduated from the academy with top grades" Neji commented.

"I never knew I had stalkers, do you get out much?" asked sasuke cheekily

"What?" asked Neji eyes narrowing as the girl called Tenten giggled silently behind his back.

"Sasuke, Naruto, we need to get to orientation straight away, come on!" Sakura interrupted taking charge before another fight broke out and leading the way she made her way towards the double doors at the far end of the corridor, naruto was slightly more happier that sakura had thought to tell Neji their names but was again seething that that lee guy had attempted to get jiggy with her.

(A while later)

They came to an empty hall across which was a door leading outside into a small courtyard which would then take them into the next building. Naruto, sakura and sasuke started to make their way towards it; they came to the middle of the hall when suddenly a voice shouted.

"Hold it right there Mr Attitude!" team seven turned and saw lee standing on the balcony looking down at them.

"What is it? I already told you I'm not going to date you!" cried sakura irritated.

"No I want to fight Uchiha!" announced lee abruptly, naruto and sakura were shocked but sasuke smirked.

"Are you sure you want to? I might damage your changes of competing in this tournament if I hurt you"

But lee ignored that warning and jumped down from the balcony onto the hall ground. He took up the most peculiar fighting stance, his two feet were firmly glued together and his right hand was raised,

"Let's begin!"

"HOLD IT!" cried a voice; sasuke looked beside him at naruto who was looking determinedly at lee.

"I want to fight this guy; I want to test my abilities against him!"

"No at the moment I just want to fight uchiha" lee said calmly

"Oi freaky eyebrows! There are three people in this team, not just sasuke!" Naruto roared and ran towards lee, he was pissed off that sasuke was given the spotlight all the time, he wanted to beat this guy up so that he could return to his teammates and tell them Naruto Uzumaki had just beaten him up. Lee turned to naruto immediately, without even batting an eyelid, he used two fingers and shoved naruto to one side, naruto pirouetted on one hand and tried to send a roundhouse taijutsu kick towards lee's face but lee quickly swept away the hand on the ground, naruto landed heavily on the ground and was sent spinning wildly towards the wall and ended up crumbled and winded against it.

"So sasuke, are you going to fight or not?" asked lee

"Why do you want to fight me?" asked sasuke

"Everyone is always talking about how great the uchihas are, I want to see if it is true, I figured you would be a good challenge for me!" replied lee

"I guess that's a good reason" sasuke said

"And also!" interrupted lee a bit more seriously this time, sasuke looked at him in a signal to continue.

"This is a fight for love!"

"Whaaat" said sasuke totally confused

"You are a rival in love for me, it seems sakura has a reason not to go out with me and that could only mean she already has her eyes on someone else, I saw how it could only be you, I will also prove to her how strong I am!" lee explained, sasuke raised one eyebrow and looked at sakura who looked flabbergasted.

"What are you talking about you little nerd? I don't like sasuke" she cried

"Then I can still go out with you then? Come on just for one date, pleaseee" begged lee his face becoming red.

"NO!" said sakura a little bit harshly this time.

"I understand sakura, I can see your just hiding your true feelings" Lee said winking at her "Here's a little kiss to remember me by" and he starting to give out imaginary kisses to sakura, sakura recoiled and turned to sasuke.

"Sasuke beat him to a pulp!"

"Don't worry, I plan to" sasuke replied and starting to run towards lee "You are going to regret challenging an uchiha!"

"Here he comes" lee thought to himself then out loud he said "I must warn you, out of all the leaf genin I am ranked the best out of all of them, I suggest you forfeit this match"

"NOT AN OPTION!" sasuke cried and tried to send a punch at lee's face, but surprisingly lee vanished, shocked sasuke looked behind him.

"Sasuke look up!" cried sakura

Sasuke looked up and saw lee in the air.

"Leaf hurricane!" Lee cried

Lee swung his leg trying to kick sasuke in the face, sasuke ducked, lee landed on the ground, twisted his body quickly and made to kick sasuke with his leg again, sasuke knew he could only block it, he stood his ground firmly, but his eyes widened in fear when he saw that lee was able to bypass his block and lee was then able to smash his foot into sasuke's face, the force of the kick was able to send sasuke soaring across the hall back towards sakura, sasuke fell heavily on the ground, his face felt numb, his eyes were watering and his body ached.

"I don't believe it, he had his guard up" sakura thought "But lee was able to get through it, how?"

"He's using some technique to get at me, what is it? Genjutsu? Or ninjutsu?" sasuke's scrambling thoughts came to a sudden stop immediately and he smirked

"I have a plan" He got up slowly and faced lee; consciously he sent chakra straight to his eyes and felt his vision wobble. Naruto had disentangled himself and was now watching the fight; he nodded knowingly at sasuke to make him aware that his sharingan had been activated.

"Come on sasuke, you can beat this guy! Believe in yourself!" Naruto cried punching his fist in the air.

Sakura meanwhile was looking amazed that sasuke had activated his family's heirloom technique.

"When did he activate his sharingan, its in both of his eyes, I don't believe it!" sakura thought "This lee guy is about to get beat for sure now"

"Genjutsu or ninjutsu? It really doesn't matter because I'll see it now!" sasuke thought and sent some more chakra into his sharingan and he sprinted towards lee, lee remained standing still and sasuke went to attack, suddenly lee sent a high kick slamming his feet into sasuke's jaw. Sasuke felt as if his brain was rattling and felt himself being lifted off the ground into the air and literally he was, the sheer power of the high kick sent him skywards.

"Shit! He got around my guard!" hissed sasuke as he floated through the air but he came back down to earth and made himself rotate in the air so that he could land safely on the ground. But he had no time for a reprieve as lee was already sprinting towards him, he started to throw a series of quick punches and kicks towards sasuke, sasuke was nearly able to cope with the oncoming onslaught but his luck slowly ran out as lee was too fast and sent a hard elbow into his stomach, sasuke immediately doubled over and stepped backwards holding his belly.

"Do you get it now sasuke? the technique I'm using" asked lee " I am using taijutsu, that means no tricks!" he flashed stepped behind sasuke, sasuke, becoming frustrated now, made to punch lee who continued to taunt "It is just straight martial arts, nothing more" but lee sensing sasuke's moves was able to jump backwards out of harm's way.

"I know your technique sasuke, forget it, you have no way of defeating me at your current level, you are just too slow, I know all about the sharingan's ability to find out what the user's opponent is up to, but basically finding out that information isn't enough, if you cannot keep up with your opponent, if your body strength and stamina is low you cannot copy all techniques"

"The main advantage of using Taijutsu is that you can't just copy it, it has to be instilled in your physique not just copied with an eye, those who learn its lessons and train everyday they have a higher advantage over someone with a fancy eye technique that is scrawny and slow"

"How dare you!" cried sasuke "Don't you judge me!" and he ran towards lee furiously, sharingan blazing.

"Here is what I believe, there are two different kinds of people in this world, those like you that are born with special heirloom abilities that require you to never have to train as hard and people like me that have to work their butt off every moment of every day to achieve their goals, here is what I mean" Lee continued and he raised his leg again to kick sasuke in the chin sending him skywards. Sasuke's jaw was getting sore with the continued facial attacks, he sensed that someone was behind him and saw lee in the air behind him.

"Dancing leaf shadow?" croaked sasuke

"Good eye, now I will prove my point, that hard work can defeat natural talent!" lee said, sasuke's eyes widened in fear, his body was shaking he just didn't know what to expect.

"Sasuke!" Naruto cried and immediately he threw a kunai, the kunai went shooting towards lee, sasuke couldn't see what naruto was aiming for but lee had stopped his attack and landed back on the ground, sasuke began free falling towards the hall floor, sakura though luckily broke his fall.

"Ugh you interrupted our fight!" lee said annoyed looking at naruto, he made to sprint towards naruto but there came a voice.

"That's enough lee!" everyone in the room turned and saw a turtle where the voice had appeared moments before.

"Did that turtle just speak?" asked naruto looking at sasuke and sakura who both shrugged.

"I'm so sorry sir, I wasn't going to use that technique, I was just bluffing you know" babbled lee running over to the turtle.

"Stop your excuses and take your punishment like a man, Now its time, come out Gai sensei!" the turtle scolded and immediately in a puff of smoke, a similar dressed older version of lee appeared on top of the turtle, he was taller, older and had bushier eyebrows then his young student and he was doing a ridiculous prose when he appeared.

"Howdy! what's up folks? What's cracking" he asked, team seven couldn't believe it, especially sasuke who had nearly lost to such a weird character as lee.

"Gai sensei!" gushed lee

"Lee! I'm here today because I heard you were about to perform that technique, is this sure?" asked Gai sensei abruptly, lee bowed his head and nodded.

"Well I guess this is it then, its time for your punishment" Gai sensei sighed and he quickly gave lee a hard punch in the face, the impact sent lee flying backwards with a bloodied nose and swollen cheek. Lee took a moment to collect himself off the ground, since the punch was very hard; he stood up slowly and slowly wiped his eyes.

"Listen lee, I'm so very sorry, you are not quite a man, but you're not a child, you must remember this!" sobbed Gai sensei producing tears from his eyes as if he had just killed his own son.

"I understand Gai sensei, I promise not to ever make you do that again" whispered lee tears also streaming down his face. Both teacher and student hugged each other while team seven cringed slightly.

"I guess you could do some punishment laps around the field to finish off your punishment, but keep your head up my boy" explained Gai looking into lee's eyes.

"I know I will Gai sensei, thank you so much"

"Hey! What about us then?" cried naruto exasperated, Gai sensei looked from lee to the three genins on the other end of the hall.

"Oh yeah…. lee what you did today was in violation of the chuunin exam rules, so I reckon that on top of the laps, I say, let's toss in 500 push ups okay!" Gai sensei said and turned back to team seven "So you guys must be kakashi's squad, so tell me how is kakashi sensei doing?"

"His alright but how do you know him?" asked sakura

"Believe it or not, we are rivals, I even defeated him once" Gai sensei bragged.

Sasuke's eyes widened in disbelief.

"But how?" he thought looking at the weird cladded man in front of him "Can kakashi loose to this guy?" He then looked at lee "How could I have failed to win against this FREAK!"

Suddenly as he was looking at Gai he blinked and the man had vanished, suddenly as quickly as even kakashi sensei, the man had reappeared behind team seven seconds later. Shaking in fear sasuke, naruto and sakura looked with narrowed and anxious eyes at Gai.

"I guess it was 92 wins and 32 looses to put a number on it, but still I'm in the lead" Gai said and laughed at the astonished expressions on the genins faces "Anyhow, you guys should really get yourself over to the exam room, lee has had his punishment and I'm really sorry for his behaviour towards you, it won't happen again in these exams and also tell kakashi hello for me will ya" and with that he vanished leaving lee alone with team seven.

Lee took his time to wrap his hand with new bandages that had been torn by naruto's kunai, naruto noticed that lee's hands were badly bruised and felt curious about the boy's past.

"Sasuke, I lied to you during our fight anyway, I told you I am the top genin in the village, but in fact I'm not, there's another in my group that is, Neji Hyuuga, he will be the one to watch in this exam not me, I'm sorry for delaying you from the exam please forgive me" lee said and somersaulting up to land on the top balcony and went his own way.

Sasuke continued to fume in anger, he didn't know what made him angrier, that he had been defeating by a freakish looking taijutsu using genin or the fact that the boy wasn't even a strong opponent.

"Listen sasuke, forget about that punk, you were just unprepared this time but next time you meet him you will be so prepared won't ya!" Naruto said gently.

"He insulted my family name, I will never forgive him for that" sasuke hissed "Anyone that talks about my family in an insulting manner will feel my wrath"

"What wrath is that then?" asked naruto sternly "You're not a God sasuke, we're only genins, they are older than us so of course they have more experience, look at me, he took me out in 2 seconds!"

Sasuke was silent for a while.

"That's right, I just have to work on improving my body strength that's all right?"

"Did you see his hands?" asked naruto

"Huh, no" sasuke said irritated "I will more worried about him pounding me to death"

"His hands were bruised, I bet you a million pounds that old bushy brows has been pushing himself to the limit, every minute of every day until he's collapsed, he's training more than all of us put together and that's all we have to do, work harder and push ourselves and not to rely on only genjutsu and ninjutsu to survive" Naruto explained

"He said that my sharingan will only improve if my body can take the force of new jutsus" sasuke said "I understand, Naruto, sakura, these tests are so joking matter, we have to work our butts off"

"Yeah but we will be working towards nothing if you don't get to the registry room, now will you guys stop daydreaming and let's get moving!" snapped sakura but she smiled and nodded in understanding of what sasuke was trying to say. Sasuke and naruto nodded and sakura playfully linked arms with them despite their disapprovals and together team seven walked as one towards the first stage of the chuunin exams.

(15 minutes later)

"Well done, I'm pleased to see that you decided to show" kakashi remarked when he saw them coming towards him, he was waiting outside the door of the first exam room, kakashi stood by the door waiting for them and they were relieved to see someone they knew.

"Yeah you really thought we would bottle it?" asked naruto smirking widely.

"I'm very proud of all of you, I know you will all try your best" Kakashi said and his eyes wrinkled as he smiled.

"Don't worry kakashi sensei, we won't let you down, believe it!" Naruto cried as he lined up to take his place on one side of the door.

"Believe in us, we will definitely become chuunins" Sakura said placing herself in the middle of the group.

"You won't be disappointed" sasuke said and stood on sakura's right.

"You guys ready?" asked naruto and his teammates nodded and he confidently pushed open the door and they were met by a blinding light.

THE END


	10. Chapter 10:The start of the chuunin exam

Chapter 10: The rookie 9 off: The start of the chuunin exams 

Naruto, sakura and sasuke were not quite sure what to expect when naruto opened the door that hosted the first chuunin exams.

They expected a big hall but instead they stepped into a regular academy classroom, there were lines of tables and a blackboard at the far end presumably, but the three genins couldn't quite see because the room was jam packed with fierce looking genins from different countries. They were met by an icy silence, broken occasionally by whispers now and again, Naruto and sasuke tried not to gulp but sakura ignored her self pride and gulped silently, her throat was dry because everyone in the room was staring at them, assessing their strength and character, it felt like a big spotlight had been placed on them.

"SASUKEEEE!" screamed a voice, sasuke groaned, of course he knew another fan girl was going to be present in this exam and that person could only be Ino Yamanaka of team 10, sasuke was not given a chance to look sideways before an arm had grabbed him around his neck and brought him into a crunching hug from a very beautiful blonde haired girl with a ponytail and crystal blue eyes, immediately sakura started to shake in anger and pointed at Ino,

"How in the hell of it did you get into these exams?"

"What are you talking about? Miss Billboard head!" snarled Ino "It's the chuunin exams? Every genin in the leaf village has been put up for it"

"Just stay out of my way and let go of sasuke! You're practically suffocating him" cried sakura

"Yo shikamaru, what up?" asked naruto ignoring the cat fight in front of him and slapping hands with his lazy friend, beside shikamaru was chouji snacking away as always on bbq crisps.

"I'm good, I'm really amazed to see you here though, you sure you guys are ready for this?" said shikamaru looking sasuke and naruto up and down.

"We're ready as ready can be!" Naruto said enthusiastically.

"I must admit naruto, you have balls"

"Omg! Naruto! Don't tell me your going up for the exams!" said a sneering boisterous voice, naruto turned around annoyed and saw the one guy he had dreaded seeing in this tournament, Kiba Inuzuka, he was walking towards them laughing his head off accompanied by his small puppy akamaru, his mysterious and annoying friend shino aburame and the shy hinata who hardly spoke in front of naruto.

"Well at least I have balls, unlike you" whispered naruto

"Hey what did you say?" roared Kiba and immediately squared up to naruto.

"OI you lot!" said a voice, the three teams of rookie genins turned and saw a bespectacled grey haired teenager approaching them.

"Who the hell are you man? Stay out of this" asked kiba

"I am Kabuto Yakushi chuunin exam veteran" the teen called Kabuto answered jokily but unfortunately none of the genins were really in the joking mood.

"What do you mean veteran, you got a dysfunction?" asked kiba rudely

"No it's because I'm another candidate" kabuto replied and dryly laughed "But this is my seventh time here"

"Ohh" all the genins replied and there was again another awkward silence.

"So what do you want?" asked kiba aggressively

"You see those guys over there? they are all very jumpy at this period in the exams, they always are, in every exam, So I suggest you rugrats shut up for a bit before you get into a serious fight" Kabuto explained, the genins turned to look at the people around them who were giving them even worst stares and they all decided to take kabuto's advice.

"So kabuto, since you've been to these exams quite a few times, you must know what to expect, who to avoid etc.?" asked sasuke coolly.

"Of course, I know pretty much, in fact, I'll show you my special cards" Kabuto replied and dug into this trouser pockets and produced quite a big pack of ordinary cards, he crouched on the ground.

"Gather around" he instructed the group, all the genins grouped together, kabuto turned the cards which were facing downwards, up, but still the genins were confused as the cards remained looking blank.

"There's nothing on the stupid cards though you nerd!" snarled Kiba

"Be patient, I've put a sealing technique on the cards; do you really think I'll let anyone look at these? These cards are worth a lot of money, they contain the skills and abilities of every ninja out there, but unluckily I've left a few at home, except for the chuunin exam participants that are in the exam this year around" Kabuto explained.

"So can you tell me about a certain person I'm looking for?" asked sasuke

"Sure you got the name of this guy, or girl?" asked kabuto smirking idly at sasuke "You may think I'm being pervy, but believe me many male ninjas ask me for cards just to see kunoichi pictures, its kind of like speed dating"

"That's sick" Ino replied swiftly "They have no life at all"

"Gaara of the sand" sasuke said abruptly not even flinching at what kabuto just mentioned, he had become serious and kabuto knew it, kabuto obediently shuffled through his hand deck of cards and drew out one particular card, he placed it flat on the ground, placed a single finger on the blank surface and spun the card thrice, immediately the card started to show pictures and numbers and a pie chart in the centre.

"Gaara of the sand, a genin of the land of sand, not much is known about him, his fellow teammates are Kankurou and Temari, in the past year he has been on 8 C rank missions and… get this 1 B rank mission, their leader is called baki, he seems like a tough competitor even by the normal standards of the chuunin exams" Kabuto said, sasuke's breathe caught in his throat after hearing that.

"A B rank" whispered hinata silently

"The disturbing thing about his missions is that he has never received one scratch after returning from them" Kabuto said.

"Man these exams are no joke, these ninjas, their powerful" sasuke thought to himself, he felt suddenly low in himself but a hand descended on his shoulder, he looked behind him and saw naruto wink supportably at him, sasuke smiled, took a deep breathe and asked again.

"Have you got any information about rock lee?"

"Maybe, what village is he from?" asked kabuto

"The leaf" replied sasuke sharply, again kabuto searched for the card, he produced it and began reading from it.

"Rock lee, apparently he is a year older than you guys are, this ninja is rather unusual, he has low amounts of ninjutsu and genjutsu abilities but he excels mainly in taijutsu, he is part of Gai's team along with Neji Hyuuga and Tenten, do you want to know which countries the genins are participating in this exam?"

All the genins nodded. Kabuto produced one more card and answered.

"There are genins participating from the land of fire, grass, waterfall, sand, sound and rain"

"Hidden sound village?" asked shikamaru in confusion.

"Apparently this hidden village is new, little is known about them, their village is rather poor so don't expect too much competition from them" kabuto said and smiled. He stood up and placed his hand in his pockets then looked at the genins, they looked depressed.

"Hey don't be too disheartened, there's a reason why the hidden leaf village is so popular, they produce the best shinobi in the whole world, you're the second youngest rookies that have entered this tournament in years" encouraged kabuto

"That's right!" cried naruto pointing at the ninjas gathered, sasuke sighed and sakura began to silently panic behind him "Listen you weaklings, I am naruto uzumaki, bring it on! I don't care, don't underestimate me OR any of my fellow leaf genins, we're tough, determined and we will NOT get pushed about by you because we're going to become chuunins believe it!"

"NARUTO!" screamed sakura and brought him into an arm lock "Shut the hell up!"

"GAH! Sakura let go" croaked naruto

"Listen people, ignore him, he really has a mental problem, he got hit in the head with a shuriken when he was little you see and since then, ha-ha, his had problems in brain development, so when he talks he basically talks about shit!" sakura cried turning her attention to the shocked and slightly angry genins who were slowly getting off their seats or tables to pound their fists in their palms at naruto threateningly.

Suddenly there was a flash of black, sakura gasped and kabuto made it just in time to push both naruto and sakura out of the way and tried to block against the incoming attack that was about to come.

A few kunai were thrown towards kabuto who blocked it, suddenly a boy wearing a face mask appeared in front of kabuto and tried to punch him the face, kabuto quickly stepped away from the punch and wasn't harmed.

"His speed, his almost as fast as I am" sasuke thought in awe at kabuto's ability to dodge the punch. Kabuto smirked to himself at the futile attempt the sound ninja made but suddenly he began to feel funny.

His head began to spin and seconds later he was puking on the ground, his glasses that were on his face had cracked and fallen on the ground leaving him even more disorientated.

"Kabuto, what's wrong!" cried sakura running over to help him get to his feet.

"It appears to be a technique that takes affect even when it makes no contact with a person or object" sasuke said to naruto, naruto nodded seriously.

"Not so tough are you?" asked the face masked man

"Write this in your books or cards, the sound village ninjas are about to put their village permanently on the map after winning this competition" the boy who had thrown the kunai said,

"Leave us alone before I pound your face in" snarled naruto.

"Why you little!" cried the spiky haired boy and raised his palms which had holes in it, suddenly there was a loud bang behind them and every genin turned to the front towards a blackboard. After the dust had settled there stood a man with a bandana over his head, he had deep scars on his face and who wore a long black cloak over leaf ninja uniform attire.

"That will be quite enough" he said and pointed to the sound ninjas "Stop fighting now before I disqualify you! Now it's time to begin the exams, everyone find a seat so that the written exams can start"

"I was just having some fun mister!" the spiky haired sound ninja said cheekily and obediently went to sit down.

"Come on naruto, didn't you hear the guy? Let's go" sakura said

"He just said written exam right?" asked naruto looking very pale "I feel like I'm going to be sick"

"Not over me your not! Come on naruto you'll be fine" sakura said soothingly, naruto nodded and went to sit down. He noticed a line of exam officials sitting on chairs at the side of the room with clipboards in their hands; apparently, to watch the genins' conduct during the exam.

He found a seat near the front next to hinata, he didn't see anywhere else to sit so he settled for sitting there even if it meant he had to sit next to the weirdly silent girl.

"Welcome to the first stage of your exam, I am ebiki morino you're proctor for this exam, in front of each of you should be a written exam; you have a whole hour to complete all the questions on your sheet, ALL of them! Those of you who miss out one question will have failed this exam, the tenth and last question will be given to you at the end of the exam" He turned to the blackboard to write down his name and to draw a rather messy line underneath it. He then left a space and wrote "rules" in big capitals beside his name.

"Now this exam has a list of rules for me to read out, the first and most important rule is no cheating! If a person gets caught cheating three times they are immediately disqualified. I mean it if one of you cheats it doesn't mean the end of this exam for the one individual but his/her's whole team! So I repeat do not let one of these exam officials see you cheat! Everybody got that?"

The room nodded in understanding.

"Also if a candidate scores zero on their paper they will be barred from taking this exam ever again and their whole team will suffer and they will also be disqualified" Ebiki said. Sasuke's and sakura's jaw nearly dropped onto their tables in complete shock, naruto began shaking and sweating nervously and he could literally feel his team members behind him staring daggers at his back.

"Shit! Naruto doesn't stand a chance, how the hell will he pass this!" thought sasuke and sakura at the same time. Naruto had become a nervous wreck beside hinata who turned to look at the blonde frightened boy, she took a deep breathe and decided to give him some gentle encouragement.

"Its okay naruto-kun you-you, will do alright, just take each question one at a time, le-leave the difficult questions to the-the end and complete the easier ones first" hinata stuttered

"Oh that's a swell idea hinata! Why didn't I think of that, that's brilliant time management I've gotcha, thanks" Naruto whispered, eyes becoming bright with enthusiasm and fake hope that he really didn't feel in the pit of his stomach.

"You all have one hour, begin!" Ebiki said and immediately all the genins in the room turned over their sheet of paper, naruto turned over his, smiling away he began to read the first question.

"Ok that's a hard one, time to skip it" he thought, he went onto the second one "Nah can't do that one"

Sakura had read the first four questions and gasped as she realised this was some advanced stuff.

"Oh man, this is advanced mathematical calculus equations, pretty hard stuff for most of the genins in this room, only those people, like me, that took up this subject from an earlier age at the academy will know how to solve these, this is an obviously impossible exam to complete" she looked around at the room, at the sentries at the side of the room.

"They can't have mistakenly handed out the wrong exam paper without even one person finding out it was a mistake, unless these papers have been given to each genin for a reason, but what reason is that? Do they want us to cheat" thought sakura

"Hmm, looks like we've been given a crafty ultimatum, cheat to get through this exam, I haven't got a clue about how you do these equations" sasuke thought to himself, he looked at the blackboard "As kakashi sensei once told us, a ninja must see through deception, ebiki isn't trying to forbid us from cheating, his encouraging us, this is advanced jounin level equations, no one can solve these in here" sasuke thought

"There must be fakes stationed amongst this group, people to test out our abilities to cheat, I'm okay to complete the paper that's no problem for me, but can sasuke and naruto find these people and find the answers, I hope so, I cannot think of a way to get the answers to them, I'm too far away from naruto and sasuke, they are on their own, please God help them to realise what is going on" sakura thought

"sakura I'm counting on you to know what's going on, you're fine, but naruto… man, I'm so worried, but I can probably use my sharingan and just copy someone's hand movements, naruto come on buddy use your brain!" sasuke thought and activated his sharingan, he then simply mimicked the guy in front of him and wrote down what his sharingan picked up.

Meanwhile there was a certain tense atmosphere around the room, certain things were going on discreetly and sometimes not discreetly around naruto, in the first 15 minutes 4 genin teams had been eliminated from the exam, after each shocking cry from the sentries naruto had got more nervous until hinata couldn't bear it anymore.

"Here naruto, look at my paper" she whispered.

"What? Why, we both might get disqualified" asked naruto

"No it's okay, just take a quick peek" hinata whispered

Naruto was about to try it when he had a suspicious feeling, hinata was never this outspoken, what had kiba and shino put her up to? Was she trying to get him kicked out of the exam? What was it about quiet people that you had to wary of? Naruto decided to get to the root of this, before he decided to put out his neck.

"Hinata why do you want to help me?"

"Well, we're all the rookie genins right? I just want to help you out so that we, the rookies, can all stay together" hinata whispered nervously beginning to go back to her old habit of fiddling with her fingers.

"Oh! Okay then, show it to me" naruto whispered and hinata carefully pushed her paper out slightly from underneath her arm so that naruto could look at it, suddenly naruto could hear the tap tapping of a pencil hitting paper, he turned nervously to look sideway down the end of his line of tables and saw a sentry writing furiously on his clipboard. The sentry stopped and looked straight at naruto knowingly.

"I'm sorry hinata, I can't do it, take your paper back, I'll pass this exam, believe it" naruto whispered to hinata.

"Are you sure?" asked hinata

"I'm sure" naruto replied back abruptly then smiled and continued "We don't know each other that well, but I'll be damned if I let you fail because of me"

Hinata continued to look at naruto's dazzling smile for quite a while, then she blushed, looked back at her paper, her smile curved and she whispered.

"Maybe there's still time to get to know each other a bit more"

"What did I tell you? Shy people = weirdos" Naruto thought to himself, misinterpreting hinata's friendly suggestion.

(An hour later)

"Ok! Time is up everyone for the written exam" Ebiki announced exactly an hour later, naruto continued to sweat drop and smiled uneasily as everyone put down their pencils and faced forwards.

"Now it's time for the tenth question. This is the most difficult of all the questions, at this moment those of you who do not wish to take this question, please leave the room now because if candidates fail to answer this question they won't only be disqualified from sitting these exams next year, but they will be barred from ever taking the chuunin exams ever again"

There was a pained silence in the room.

"What, what the hell? We didn't come this far for this to happen, what gives?" shouted kiba whilst akamaru barked disdainfully at ebiki.

"Silence! I make the rules here, got it!" Ebiki cried. Suddenly naruto remembered hearing those words before, kakashi sensei had said those same words with the bell test, but that was a test to see if they knew about the importance of teamwork in the squad, but what was ebiki looking to find out from these genins?

"I repeat, those of you who wish to leave may do so now!" shouted ebiki aggressively, there was a gulp from some genins immediately after that statement but nobody raised their hands.

Suddenly five minutes later a tall bulky genin stood up and announced that he couldn't do it, his teammates and him left together through the doors at the back of the classroom, the boy was silently in tears and couldn't look his team members in the eyes. The same happened to at least half of the room before naruto had had enough with this proctor and his mind games.

Naruto raised his hand and then slammed them hard back down on the desk in front of him.

"Listen you big head geezer I didn't come this far to quit and go crying back home like a big baby! I made a vow to go the distance and nobody, not even a mind twisting jounin like you is going to make me go back on my word. Disqualify me? I don't really care; I don't care if I'm a genin for the rest of my life. I WILL be hokage one day, get that buddy?"

"This is your last chance to refuse, I warn you, this is no easy little puzzle" Ebiki replied.

"No way, bring it on, this is what it means to be a ninja" replied naruto and sat back down; his arms folded looking like a spoilt kid.

"Ha-ha, I must admit you have guts kid, guts and more guts, that is what makes a fine ninja indeed, I think we are done boys don't you think?" said ebiki, the sentries at the side of the classroom all nodded together and ebiki turned back to the genins.

"I'm proud to say, that all you guys, have passed!"

There was complete and utter silence, and then the girl called Temari stood up so fast that she nearly sent her desk flying.

"Excuse me? What is going on here? I thought there was a tenth question and now you're saying we've passed!"

"HEY TEMARI! It's me naruto! Remember me? Bend down a little further will ya!" Naruto cried and began squeezing imaginary tits together, hinata flinched slightly beside him.

"Fuck off you little runt!" Temari snarled "I can beat you up with one finger mate"

"There is NO tenth question!" ebiki interrupted sternly indicating that naruto needed to knock it off with his pathetic attempt to seduce Temari "What a shinobi needs to understand entirely is the act of not being selfish with his life, having the guts and the willpower to take the risk of going on dangerous missions to protect both his comrades and his village, that is what chuunins are, they are leaders, they must be willing to give their life for their comrades, to stick a mission out until the very end even when they know the penalty is death itself"

Ebiki removed his bandana. The room gasped, ebiki's head was a mass of scars, bruises, cigarette burns and worst. Naruto gulped and sasuke felt sorry for what he believed the man must have gone through.

"Sometimes accidents can happen, sometimes you, the leader, can be captured, an important document is on your person and you must be willing to stick it out and defend your village until you're last breathe, you certainly can't go hiding or running away from your responsibilities…. but enough of that, you all pass, you all progress onto the second exam!"

"YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHH! YEAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Naruto cried punching his fists repeatedly in the air to the amazement of the people around him and hinata, who regardless of what naruto said about Temari's boobs she had softened again to naruto's speech of self determination.

Suddenly there was a crash as the window beside ebiki broke and a black figure rolled into the room, naruto screamed because he thought it was an attack on them but he calmed down when he saw a fit looking lady with short purple hair detangle herself from a black curtain.

"Hi there people, I'm Anko Miterashi and I am your proctor for the second phrase of your exams, now are you all with me, COME ON SHOUT TO THE CEILING, HANDS UP WHOSE READYYY!" she screamed excitedly.

The room sighed together at the overenthusiasm of supposedly their next proctor; Anko feeling embarrassed sighed and looked at ebiki.

"You haven't finished yet have you?"

"No! You're early again!" snapped ebiki not even looking at the bubbly purple haired girl beside him.

"I'm sorry, it's not my fault your exam is so easy" said anko looking peeved then she turned to the group "As I said, the second round of your exams is here! You have a whole hour to gather regular ninja provisions and meet me in the training area where the bombsites are, you are dismissed!" Anko said and she smiled sweetly at the genins.

"Naruto that was a good way of getting through the exams, good idea" sakura said when they exited the ninja academy.

"Well that room was getting on my nerves I had to do something" naruto explained.

"I was so worried about you guys, especially you naruto" sakura said, she was slightly impressed by the blonde hair boy's confidence to stick up for himself, dare she feel it, it was quite a turn on. 

"Yeah, naruto was quite the hero! Let's get to our apartments and get our stuff" sasuke said

"I wonder what the next exam is" sakura wondered

"I'm cool with anything except more written work" naruto said his hand behind his head as they walked to get their equipment together.

THE END


	11. Chapter 11: The forest of death

Chapter 11: The forest of death

Team seven arrived fully geared up on one of the training ground fields at the end of which stood a huge gate barring the way into a dark, deadly looking but old forest ahead, many teams had arrived on team also and were just looking at the forest seriously. Anko the proctor for the next stage of the exam was looking cheerfully at their worried faces and when naruto, sasuke and sakura came to stand at the front she said.

"Take a good look folks, they call it the forest of death and soon enough you're going to find out why"

"They call it the forest of death and soon enough you're going to find out why" mimicked naruto giving a little shake of his bum "What do you think I am toots? A chicken! Bring it on, show me your worst!"

"So we have ourselves a tough guy here" Anko said cheerfully, then her expression turned serious and she tossed a kunai that cut naruto across his cheek. She then flash stepped behind naruto, swiping the blood that dribbled off his face with one finger she whispered in his ear.

"You know something tough guy, confident, cocky little guys like you are the first ones to die in this exam, believe it!" Anko licked the blood off her finger and kissed naruto on the cheek, naruto squirmed in revulsion. Anko was turned around quickly when she sensed a presence behind her and saw a rarely feminine looking genin wearing the forehead protector of the hidden grass village standing very close behind her, the genin harmlessly extended a rather long tongue that held Anko's kunai on it.

"Just thought, I'll return this to you miss" the grass nin hissed like a snake.

"Why thank you grass ninja" Anko replied catching the ninja's eye coyly "But next time you decide to stand this close to me, I hope you have life insurance"

"Now the next stage of this exam will be hosted in this forest, it's a survival exercise, you and your teammates have five days to reach the tower which is located in the centre of this forest. All teams will be given two scrolls, a heaven scroll which is a white scroll and a earth scroll which is black and white. As well as getting to the tower each team must acquire both scrolls in able to progress to the third stage of the exams. If they don't, they are disqualified. Also you are disqualified if one of your teammates is injured or if you read the contents from the scroll, is that clear to everyone? Any questions?"

"What about food?" asked a rather indignant Chouji, sasuke, naruto and sakura smiled to themselves knowing full well Chouji loved his food.

"There are many animals in the forest you can eat, your not exactly going to find a bbq restaurant on a mission all the time are you!" snapped Anko frustrated. They heard a pained groan from chouji in response.

"Why can't we read the scroll?" asked naruto naively.

"On important missions you will be expected to carry around important documents, their confidential so you can't just open them without permission, this is to test your integrity" answered anko "Now each team has half an hour to get their scrolls, to chill, to get prepared, whatever you guys want to do, it's up to you and then when I sound the alarm you are to go to your designated release gate to start the exams"

"Naruto, sakura we need to work out a strategy together" sasuke said immediately and he walked over to a isolated tree that was furthest away from the group of genins.

"When we get released into the forest all the older genins will want to come after us straight away, their underestimation of us is their downfall so I say we travel fast until its dark. Secondly we need to think about traps, signals to warn us about enemy ninja".

"I say I leave behind 4 shadow clones every time we stop for a rest, two will be solid clones expertly hidden the rest will be transformed into, I dunno a twig or something" Naruto whispered.

"I will throw around a few exploding tags" sakura chirped in "What about infiltration? I reckon some ninja may transform into us to fool us"

"We need a password, let me think" sasuke thought to himself for a long time then he leaned forward and whispered to the group "The question that will be asked is, when does a ninja strike? The answer is a ninja waits until the time is right, when the enemy drops his guard, when his weapons lay forgotten in the middle of the night, that is the moment when a ninja must strike".

"So what's the password?" asked naruto dumbly.

"That was the password naruto" said sakura smiling.

"But that's not a password, that's a pass sentence" Naruto said slowly.

"I have my reasons for this password, trust me" sasuke whispered.

"Oh whatever, I need a pee, excuse me" Naruto said and got up and headed for behind a rock in the far distance, he stopped in his tracks when he saw that hinata was standing alone, sitting on the ground against a tree,

"Hi hinata what's happening?" asked naruto uneasily

"Oh naruto-kun, i-I it's nice to see you, here I have something to give to you" Hinata said and produced a small tub of cream from her pockets.

"What is it?" asked naruto awkwardly.

"It's healing cream, in case you-you get injured" Hinata said, her face was bright red now and she bowed low to naruto and said "Excuse me I have to go" and she ran off to join her teammates.

"Oh well it might come in handy" Naruto sighed.

The alarm at the top of gate into in forest of death began bleeping and all the genins assembled at their designated release gate, naruto was given the heaven scroll. Exam officials and anko began to unlock the locks on the gates quickly.

"On the count of three the exam has begun! 1…2….3 go!" Anko cried and immediately the gates opened and immediately all the teams began sprinting into the forest at high speed.

After a whole hour, team seven stopped for a rest, but they made sure to secure their location, Naruto sent 4 shadow clones, one shadow clone went north, the others east, south and west, sasuke began placing chakra wires around tree branches while sakura discreetly attached exploding notes on the trees facing towards where they were located.

"What are the strings for?" asked sakura

"I managed to buy them from a ninja store before I left" sasuke said "When a enemy crosses one, my kunai begins to glow blue, avoids us getting sneaked up on, they are camouflaged as well so unless you placed a string there, nobody will know its there"

"Brilliant" sakura said in awe's at sasuke's intelligence,

"Oh man, couldn't you set them a little bit later? I need a pee!" cried naruto jumping up and down.

"Don't you dare you it in front of me" threatened sakura.

"Over there, I haven't placed any traps to the sides of the clearings, sneak through there, but be quick" sasuke said, naruto nodded and headed in the direction sasuke pointed.

(15 minutes later)

"Man I really needed that" sighed naruto as he came back 15 minutes later.

"Ugh I really don't want to know naruto" said sakura smiling uneasily then she screamed when sasuke threw a kunai right at naruto!

Naruto dodged luckily in time and looked back at sasuke in confusion.

"Alright, where is naruto?" asked sasuke sharply "Come on answer me!"

"What are you saying sasuke? This is naruto" asked sakura.

"No I've lived with naruto all my life, he always wears his kunai holster on his right leg, never removes it from there even when his going to bed" sasuke explained pointing at naruto who had his holster surprisingly on his left hand leg. Sakura put her hand to her mouth in shock but sasuke never let down his guard.

"Sakura I think you should stay away from him, his going loony" said naruto

"Ok then what's the password?" asked sasuke

"Err Konoha" guessed naruto, another kunai soared towards him, the imposter dodged it more quickly this time, too quickly, there was a loud bang as the technique was broken and a rain genin wearing a microphone on his face and a yellow jumpsuit appeared out of the clouds.

"Ok where's the scroll? hand it over!" he demanded, sasuke was about to fight the guy when something came flying quickly out of the side of the clearing and rugby tackled the guy to the ground, the rain ninja panicked was able to get out of the real naruto's grasp and jump up onto a tree branch, suddenly an exploding tag went off and blasted the ninja back down on the ground. He never moved again.

"Check him for a scroll" sasuke ordered, naruto stood up and rolled the ninja over and checked him all over, but unfortunately he had no scroll on him.

"His teammates must have sent him alone to check out our abilities, but they must have the scroll, come on we better get going" sasuke said, naruto and sakura nodded and leaving the ninja behind started to sprint off through the trees again. Naruto recalled his shadow clones and sakura began leaving exploding tags at each tree they came to as well.

(An hour later)

It was getting dark, the sun was bright red and setting in the distance so the team reckoned they should settle for the night. Naruto tiredly sent his shadow clones out again to keep a lookout for enemies while sasuke and sakura began wiring and laying traps around their enclosure, after they were done they settled down to eat their rations.

"Man! We really need some food, I can't live on ramen for five days" sasuke cursed.

"I can" said naruto

"Because you love ramen naruto, the rest of us don't" sakura said kindly

Suddenly sasuke felt a vibration in his trouser pockets and he dug into his trousers and saw that his kunai was shining bright blue. Naruto could also sense that his southern clone had been dispersed.

"Sasuke" he whispered.

"What's wrong guys?" asked sakura and suddenly they heard it, a loud bang caused by an exploding tag.

"Someone is not far away, their coming from behind us" sasuke said and all of them got as far back from a tree that stood behind them, they all raised their kunais in preparation. Suddenly a typhoon of wind came gushing straight at them, ripping through the trees, sending branches, twigs, the chakra wires and everything flying, sakura screamed and naruto lost his balance and got pushed far away through the trees, sasuke and sakura tried to hold their ground but they were thrown back as well, sasuke thankfully found a tree branch to hold onto, he grabbed sakura as she was flying past and he held on strongly until finally the wind settled and they were then able to relax.

Three figures appeared from the entrance where the tree used to stand, sasuke recognised the grass ninja that had given their proctor anko back her kunai, he or she had long black hair that fell nicely on his shoulders, a rather gaunt looking face and was wearing a long dress robe with a purple belt around his waist, his comrades were short and ragged looking.

"Head for the tower, I can deal with these lot myself" the man said, his comrades nodded and obediently vanished from view, sasuke bravely came out of hiding with sakura.

"Who the hell are you?" asked sasuke aggressively.

"That is for me to know and you to find out" said the man in a honeyed voice and he quickly clapped his hands together and looked straight at sasuke and sakura.

"Ninja art, death viewing jutsu!"

Sasuke and sakura immediately was transported to another dimension as soon as their eyes made contact with the stranger's, they saw and felt themselves being mercilessly stabbed, tortured, beheaded and cut several times, the shock from it all made them unable to move. Sasuke was sweating profusely and so was sakura, unable to handle what he had just seen sasuke bent over and started vomiting violently but remained standing, he tried to move his legs, arms, anything but it was useless, his body just wasn't receiving his brain's commands anymore. He tried to move his head but he couldn't but he was able to see out of the corner of his eye to look at sakura, but she looked totally out of it, her face was streaked with tears and her eyes had the look of complete shock in them.

"Tut, tut, sasuke I really expected to see more from you" the man said gently, after continuing to look at sasuke's feeble attempts to move his body, he sighed and raised a kunai, sasuke watched his widened eyes as the man before him carelessly threw the kunai, enhanced with chakra straight at him. Sasuke began shaking in horror as he watched the kunai coming closer and closer towards ending his life.

"NO!" sasuke thought "I can't let it end like this! Naruto where are you? I have to do something, move body, move! Move MOVE, MOVE MOVEEEEEEE!"

The kunai finally made contact and where was a loud scream from sakura.

Naruto had landed a good distance away from his teammates, his head felt funny and as he stood he felt dazed. He looked around and saw that he was in a clearing; tree branches lay battered around him.

"Huh, sasuke? sakura?" naruto said, suddenly he heard a hissing sound, nervously naruto began to slowly turn and when he faced the source of the noise he thought he was in a dreadful nightmare. The biggest snake he had ever seen stood head high looking straight at him, his long tongue flicked in and out of his mouth, it was hungry and it was ready to strike.

"NO SASUKE!" naruto began to scream but the snake had already swallowed naruto whole. Naruto felt himself being squeezed through a gooey, hot, sticky tube of muscle and flesh as he was flung down the reptile's windpipe but naruto knew that if he carried on descending he would be met by the creature's digestive system and that meant sudden death. He held out his legs to stop himself going further down, and then he made some hand seals.

"You son of a bitch, you want food? I'll give you food!" roared naruto and he made thousands of shadow clones so that the reptile's stomach expanded unnaturally and finally it exploded, sending guts, blood and other nasties across the forest floor. Naruto got ejected out immediately and stood with his clones beside the reptile's dead remains.

"Eating someone like me is like eating blowfish, one bite and your dead" Naruto said sternly "Now time to find sasuke and sakura and find out what the hell is going on".

Sasuke sat on a tree branch far away from the dangerous ninja, he was terribly shaken and loosing a lot of blood, it was his only option as his body wasn't moving, he was lucky to come to the idea of stabbing himself, drawing blood to dissolve his shock, sakura had awakened as soon as she had seen his leg and was now trying her best to nurse the wound.

"What the hell is he?" she asked.

"I don't know, keep a lookout though, he could be anywhere" sasuke said, he was sweating more and more, his clothes clung to him, his heart was pounding so hard he could hear it, sakura was worried that sasuke was so freaked out and was scared when a snake appeared at sasuke's head.

"SASUKE LOOK!" cried sakura, sasuke saw it and as quick as lightening, before the snake could strike he had again rescued sakura by stabbing the reptile in the head and evacuating the tree branch they were currently on. They took refuge on a long branch further away from the snake's dead body.

"Man! How could I have missed that? What is wrong with me" thought sasuke to himself.

"Sasuke calm down, it's alright its dead and that genin is gone" sakura said

"He isn't a genin sakura" interrupted sasuke "He is a higher level ninja, probably Jounin, but his strange so his deadly"

"Ha-ha-ha so the prey has fled, that is a wise thing to do" said a familiar voice and sasuke and sakura gasped when they saw that out of the head of the snake that they had just killed appeared the very man they had escaped from, his whole body was covered in the snake's saliva and he looked demonic and blood thirsty. He licked the saliva off his own face with a very long tongue making sasuke more unsettled.

"Finally I have you sasuke uchiha" the man said thrillingly in a totally different voice from before and he began snake like and began snaking his way along the tree branch towards sasuke and sakura, the genins fearfully retreated quickly backwards but the man was too fast, just before he reached sasuke however a kunai embedded between sasuke and the man, stopping the man's movements. Frustrated at the interruption the man looked towards the spot he had just came from and there stood Naruto, confidently standing looking down at the scene before him.

"Naruto!" sasuke shouted.

"Oi snake breathe, stay away from my friends!" cried naruto and leapt off the tree he was currently on and lunged towards the strange man.

THE END


	12. Chapter 12: The forest of death part 2

Chapter 12: The forest of death part 2

(Continued)

Naruto leapt off the tree branch and headed straight towards the mysterious man.

"No Naruto don't go near him!" cried sasuke and tried to move but his leg was still sore, Naruto ignoring sasuke's warning sprinted towards the man who had become human again and not snakelike.

"I've had enough of this shit! Believe it you're going down you freak!" Naruto roared.

The man simply shook his hands so that his wrist were revealed, drew some blood over something hidden on his arm and immediately there was a great gust of wind, suddenly a great big snake appeared, destroying the whole tree branch and throwing naruto, sasuke and sakura up in the air, sasuke grabbed sakura's hand and leapt from tree to tree to find a safe haven while naruto angrily began whacking the snake over the head with his fists.

The snake produced a long tongue and whacked naruto in the face with it, naruto went soaring backwards and was about to go flying into the tree backwards when he somersaulted and went soaring back towards the snake.

"Don't you dare underestimate me!" naruto roared heading straight for the snake, but the stranger gave a silent command and the snake licked naruto with its long tongue sending him slamming backwards into a tree. Naruto landed heavily on the tree branch, his head lolled forward.

"Now sasuke, its time to see what you've got" the stranger said in his serpent's hiss and he directed the snake towards sasuke and sakura on the tree branch in front of him, sasuke felt rooted to the tree branch, he couldn't move in fear, he was sweating, his heart was thumping furiously.

"AGHHH!" sasuke screamed. He expected to be in heaven with his family, his time ended, was he didn't feel a thing, slowly he looked up and was amazed to see that naruto was standing in front of the snake's head, he was literally holding the snake back by sheer strength and willpower. Huffing and puffing the battle bruised naruto looked sasuke straight in the eye scornfully, sasuke gasped when he saw that naruto's features had changed, his eyes had became red and demonic, the scratches on the side of his face more real and cat like and he had fangs for teeth.

"Is that the nine tails?" sasuke asked himself.

"Sasukeee! Stand up! Get on your feet, are you an uchiha or not? I'm not the one trying to kill Itachi you are!" roared naruto, even his voice had changed, sasuke could only stare and his heart fell downwards when naruto uttered those words about his family and Itachi. Suddenly his head started to hurt and he clasped the side of it with his hands. Suddenly a cold voice interrupted the silence that fell.

"I see, so you're that boy" said the man and he gave the silent command and the snake wrapped its tongue around naruto's waist, holding him tightly it raised naruto upwards towards its master.

"Let me go!" growled naruto furiously continuing to kick and punch the tongue that had enveloped his body, the mysterious man used his long tongue to grab naruto playfully by the arms and held him up in front of him to look at him more closely. He pulled up naruto's top. Naruto who had been engulfed with a confusedly high amount of adrenlinine and anger looked with red eyes at what the man was up to. Suddenly the man slammed his palms into naruto's stomach sending an acid like feeling that penetrated his skin painfully for a while but vanished quickly. Suddenly naruto found himself getting weaker and weaker, his vision blurred and he blacked out.

The mysterious man then tossed naruto to one side aiming to send him falling down to the forest floor.

"Naruto!" cried sakura and she smartly sent a kunai to catch naruto's shirt so that he became hooked to the tree branch behind the man.

"Naruto, no" sasuke whispered to himself, he suddenly had a thousand repressed images spiralling out of control through his mind, he saw Itachi's weird sharingan, he saw a village street littered with bodies, he saw again his parents being murdered by the one person he thought he could really trust.

"You're right naruto" whispered sasuke, sunlight had poured from between the trees straight down onto the clearing where they stood now, sasuke raised his head towards the light and closed his eyes, again as clearly as if he was back in time he heard those words, that had guided his life so far.

"Foolish little brother, if you wish to kill me, hate me, curse me and cling to your wretched life, run, run cling to life and one day when you have the same eyes as me, come before me" said Itachi coldly that day, the words went through sasuke's brain and immediately he looked determinedly at the strange man or demon before him.

"I am an avenger, if I cannot defeat this demon how can I hope to defeat him!" he thought to himself and immediately he went running towards the man, the man released his summoning so the snake disappeared, sasuke immediately sent fireballs towards the man, the man with surprising flexibility was able to dodge the fireballs, curl himself around them and run around with increasing speed, circling sasuke, dodging more fireballs sasuke sent his way, but sasuke was ready, his eyes had become better prepared. So he made some hand seals and sent a burst of fire from his mouth, the man tried to block but he was slowly pushed back against a tree. This is what sasuke had planned all along and he sent chakra strings to envelope the man's body to the tree. The man was amazed to find himself trapped from head to toe with tight chakra strings, he was basically mummified. Sasuke stood far from the man on a tree branch opposite, holding the string in his mouth; he performed hand seals and cried.

"Fire style, Phoenix flower jutsu!" and with that, following the chakra strings the flames soared towards the strange man, burning him literally at the stake, the man's screams pierced through sasuke's body but he didn't stop, he carried on until the man before him was burnt alive. Slowly after 20 minutes, the fires subsided and the charred remains of the man were the only thing left. Sasuke, feeling breathless sank to his knees relieved, as he knew that that jutsu must have finished off the enemy. But immediately his eyes widened in disbelief when he saw the man's body peeling away slowly, bits of skin fell to the ground until nothing was left where the man ought to be standing.

"Wha" began sasuke shocked.

"You really think that would defeat me, I'm so disappointed in you sasuke" said a voice behind him, suddenly sasuke turned and saw the man standing behind him, the man gave sasuke a big punch in the face, then he gave him a knee in the abdomen, sasuke doubled over in pain but he couldn't defend himself from the deluge of punches and kicks being aimed at him.

"SASUKE!" sakura cried, even though she was weakened she tried sending a kunai at the man's back, but he dodged it swiftly and gave sasuke one last punch in the face sending him soaring backwards, sasuke landed on his belly, face down on the ground, not moving.

"I was expecting a lot more from the supposed new genius of the leaf village, especially one from the uchiha clan" the man said dryly and began walking towards sasuke "At first I thought I had saw something when you created those fire techniques because really you are very young to have learnt some of your clan's most favoured jutsu, I admit that I am impressed that you have activated your sharingan. But really sasuke, your ancestors must weep in their graves, you are so much different than Itachi" suddenly he heard a whirring sound, the man looked left and right expecting some new move from the genin but was surprised when his back was charred by a exploding tag that had been chipped onto the back of his t-shirt, as quick as lightening sasuke got up and flew in the air.

"EAT THIS!" screamed sasuke and he grabbed the man, flipped him upside down, hooked his legs around the man's neck and both of them went soaring towards the forest floor.

"Falcon drop!" cried sasuke as he landed on the concrete/forest floor of the forest, the man in his arms' head landed so hard on the ground that there appeared a slight crater, the body began to convulse because the spinal cord had been shattered, sasuke hopped off the man and landed far away, his body finally at its limit. But even the last move in sasuke's arsenal didn't mark the man at all, the man's body suddenly turned to mud. He had made a substitution jutsu.

"Sakura!" cried sasuke.

"What is it?" asked sakura

"Get out of here, take naruto and go straight away to the tower!" said sasuke

"But it's pointless, we will fail if you are not with us!" cried sakura back.

"Ah are you trying to be a hero, sasuke kun" said a cold voice, out of the earth appeared the man, but his features were ten times different, one side was young and clear faced the other side held the burnt charred flesh legacy of sasuke's technique.

"I thought you needed my scroll" the man teased.

He held up the heaven scroll that team seven needed to make it through the exam. Sakura screamed as the man wrapped an incredibly long tongue around the scroll and digested it. He then looked at sasuke, sasuke was again hit with another technique that paralyzed his body, but this time it was a stronger technique and being already low on chakra, sasuke had no defence against it.

"SASUKE!" cried sakura, tears exploding from her eyes.

"Don't! Sakura, run!" whispered sasuke and tried to move his legs, immediately a searing pain ran through his body, he screamed in agony.

"You are indeed Itachi's brother" the man whispered, sasuke still with his sharingan activated looked at the man in front of him.

"What the hell do you want already?" roared sasuke "Why won't you just leave us alone?"

"You have the eyes of someone that desires power and I will leave you something if you decide to seek me out to acquire the power you need in order to defeat your brother" the man said and immediately he raised one finger, his head comically came off his body and snaked towards sasuke, immediately sharp fangs were against sasuke's neck inserting their way into his neck, hot acid went through his neck, through his body and it really hurt. Sasuke screamed so loud the birds scattered from the trees and took flight, the whole forest echoed with his screams.

"SASUKE!" sakura cried and landed beside him to hold his hand, but sasuke couldn't form any words but just continued to scream. "What have you done to him?"

"I am orochimaru, Sasuke will be alright and soon he will seek me out, for power" the man whispered and he disappear slowly into the ground and was gone.

When he was gone sasuke's condition had gotton worse. He went immediately into a high fever and his words became incoherent and he collapsed into a coma.

"Naruto!" cried sakura but she knew he was dangling above them, he had blacked out also.

"What am I to do" whispered sakura, tears flowing down her cheeks, the sun was setting sending an orange glow through the tree tops onto the forest floor, a slight wind blew around the clearing unsettling sakura even more. She was alone. She started to feel tears down her cheeks, but immediately her training kicked in, how many times had iruka sensei told her that shinobi must be prepared to handle the unexpected? She needed to take charge not to start bubbling like a baby. She had to protect her teammates, suddenly she had an idea. Behind her luckily there was a big cave opening. She dragged sasuke's limp body into the cave and she placed him on his side. Next she attended to naruto unhooking him by slicing the bit of material that was held by the kunai apart and running forward to break his fall. He was heavier than sakura imagined but she coped well, although she was winded slightly, she dragged naruto into the same cave sasuke was in, she took a while to catch her breathe, but she didn't relax, opening sasuke's ninja pouch she retrieved his special chakra strings and began wiring them around each tree, she set obvious and non obvious traps with explosive tags and she sent three clones of herself to keep watch of a 30 mile radius of where they were situated as well as instructing them to set traps as well.

When all those things had been done sakura collapsed over the cave entrance, two kunais in her hands feeling tired but not daring to sleep.

Suddenly the kunai in her hand in the morning turned blue. Sakura gulped and came of the cave to face three genins; they were the three sound ninjas that had attacked kabuto in the chuunin exam written exams. Sakura stood her ground and they approached her confidently.

"Hand over Sasuke Uchiha" the masked genin demanded.

"You'll have to fight me for him" sakura replied back.

The three sound genins started to laugh; the sound ninja cocked his head to one side and said.

"Very well"

THE END


	13. Chapter 13: The forest of death part 3

Chapter 13: The forest of death part 3

There was complete silence. The sound ninjas edged closer and closer towards sakura, sakura stood her ground keeping all three enemies in her sight, but she was willing relying on the trap set in front of the entrance to halt their advances. Suddenly and regretfully the sound ninja with the mask one stopped and looked down at the ground. He picked him the leaf with the exploding tag underneath it then gave sakura a teasing look.

"Really do you think you would be stopped by such a feeble trap? You can tell that this was deliberately placed here!" the man roared and he immediately became angry, he darted towards sakura, sakura couldn't help but scream in surprise and fear, suddenly a voice cried.

"Leaf hurricane!" suddenly the sound mask man got knocked back from where he came from and in front of sakura stood none other than rock lee, with a squirrel perched loyally on his shoulder.

"Don't be afraid my dearest sakura, the handsome young beast of konoha is here to protect you" lee announced.

"Lee" whispered sakura "Thank you"

"Just stay back, protect your teammates okay" Lee ordered looking quickly at sakura; he was able to see the bruises on her body and her tired features.

"She will not last long if left alone. I need to finish these guys off as quickly as possible. I must use that technique" lee thought to himself and he began to unwrap the bandages around his fists.

"Listen boy, taijutsu will not work against us" The sound ninja masked guy said suddenly.

"How, how did you know about my taijutsu?" asked lee aghast

"We were listening to what that grey haired runt was talking about back when we had that first exam" the spiky haired boy said

"And taijutsu won't bring us down!" roared the masked guy and he leapt in the air extending a fist. Rock lee simply and totally unfazed slammed his fist into the earth and pulled up some tree roots blocking the attack. However the sound ninja was still able to break through. Lee's eyes widened and he had no other option but to block the attack.

"I sense that device on your arm has some hidden ability, but if I keep it away from my ears I won't be affected by it" lee smirked.

"We'll see about that" the masked guy whispered and suddenly he activated his technique, the sound bellowed loudly out of the device, sakura covered her ears immediately but it was lee that was shocked when the noise circled around and shot piercingly into his ears. Immediately lee's ear was in agony, his eardrum throbbed in pain, his ears began to bleed and lee closed his eyes in pain, the sound ninja gave him a hard hit over the head causing lee to collapse in front of sakura.

"LEE!" cried sakura and was able to run to his aid when her hair was painfully yanked back. The female member of the team had her in a hold, sakura tried to break free but the girl pulled harder on her hair making her scream.

"You girls from konoha should learn to train more and work less on your looks, then you wouldn't be in this situation!" snapped the girl scornfully "After my teammates deal with that sasuke, I'll teach you a lesson that you will never forget"

Sakura felt so helpless. She knew that she was weaker than sasuke and naruto, she did work more on improving her looks instead of her ninja skills and now she was paying for it, but the sound kunoichi was wrong to insult her intelligence.

"You think I worry too much about my looks" she whispered.

"You haven't trained a day in your life" the female Nin replied back nastily.

"Not all ninjas become powerful by working on their bodies you know, you have to use your brain!" cried sakura and immediately she took the kunai that was in her pocket in her hands and cut her hair, freeing herself and leaving her pink hair alone in the female ninja's hands. She sent a kunai towards the masked ninja who dodged in fright but sakura kept on going, she leapt in the air and went for the spiky haired boy, he went to block but sakura sent a few clones to overpower him and then she landed on top of him.

"Let go of me! You dumb girl, get off!" screamed the ninja, sakura was pinning him down and had her teeth sunk into his arm, stopping him from using his special technique, the ninja was now pissed off and was now whacking sakura repeatedly over the head. The hard blows made her head start to bleed but sakura bit down harder on the boy's arm to stop herself crying out in pain. Finally after 15 minutes of this the ninja gave one hard blow and sakura rolled off him, she had reached her limit. The boy stood up.

"You bitch, your going to get it, after I finish off your boyfriends!" hissed the spiky haired boy.

"Zaku, come on, we have a schedule to stick to" the masked man ordered, Zaku brushed off his clothes and followed his friend towards the cave where naruto and sasuke resided in.

"Hold it right there!" cried a girl's voice. Suddenly three new figures stumbled into the clearing; it was Ino, Chouji and shikamaru.

"Ino! Please let's just make our way to the tower, I don't want to get involved in this!" begged Chouji trying to scramble free from Ino's grasp.

"Chouji come on!" Ino roared frustrated that Chouji was showing her up.

"Ino" whispered sakura.

"You sound ninjas have gone too far, now you're going to deal with the Ino-Shika-Chou team, get ready!" cried ino. There was silence then Zaku burst out laughing.

"Oh please the leaf ninjas in this tournament are such jokers, do you really think a girl, a kid that looks like a bum and a fat meatball will be able to defeat us?" he cried hysterically.

Chouji immediately stood up; he had stopped trying to escape from Ino.

"Chouji?" asked Ino worriedly.

"What did that punk haired jackass say?" asked Chouji.

"Hey, who you calling a jackass, you fat ass!" roared back Zaku. There was a silence, Shikamaru bowed his head to snigger slightly, Zaku and the rest of the sound ninjas remained looking at the three new arrivals in confusion. Suddenly Chouji looked straight at Zaku, he pointed to himself, his eyes open wide in anger and he cried.

"I AM NOT FAT, I'M BIG BONED, HURRAY FOR THE BIG BONED PEOPLE, INO, SHIKAMARU, LET'S TURN THESE GUYS INTO DOG FOOD!" And immediately he clapped his hands together and cried.

"Ninja art: Big boulder technique!" suddenly Chouji became as inflated as a balloon, his hands, head and legs vanished inside the ball he had become and he went rolling furiously towards the masked sound ninja.

"Oh tell me you're kidding me" whispered Zaku. There was a scream beside him and he turned just in time to see his female team member collapse on her knees on the ground.

"Kin!" cried Zaku, he looked from her body and saw a long shadow coming from her body to the pineapple haired boy a few metres away.

"Ninja art, shadow justu complete" smirked shikamaru.

"Ok everyone! Drop your weapons!" cried Kin suddenly. There was a silence, the masked sound guy was able to dodge Chouji's attempt to crush him and he stood looking at his teammate who was acting strange. She was standing on her feet holding a kunai to her throat.

"Ok drop your weapons now, or your team mate gets it, got it!" roared Kin. There was a silence and then the sound ninjas except Kin began smiling.

"I get it now, mind transfer technique, you're from the yamanaka clan of the hidden leaf village, it's a really good technique to control your enemies, but it has fatal disadvantages doesn't it?" the masked sound ninja said. Shikamaru's eyes widened when he saw Zaku attack Kin with a chakra cutting air attack; Kin (who was being controlled by Ino) was sent flying backwards against the tree. She ended up face down on the ground.

"INO!" shouted shikamaru fearfully, at the same time he was being distracted Chouji's technique was destroyed by the masked ninja's device that was strapped on his arm. Chouji ended up disorientated on the forest floor.

"Now one more to go" sneered the masked sound ninja and he began walking towards shikamaru.

"That will be quite enough!" said a cold voice. The sound ninjas looked up into the tree branches frustratingly and saw two figures. One was the long haired, white eyed figure of Neji Hyuuga, the other the two ponytail figure of Tenten.

"LEE!" cried tenten.

"I see that you have not only attacked other teams, but my own team mate as well" Neji said coldly and calmly, then his expression changed to anger, his eyes displayed blood veins and his eyes began to change "THIS IS SOMETHING I WILL NEVER FORGIVE!"

"Oh here we go again, some other little hard headed punk that thinks he can take us on! Come on down here and face us like a man!" shouted Zaku.

"There is no need to" whispered Neji.

"Huh why?" asked tenten, Neji gave a twitch of his head sideways and tenten looked. All the people looked towards the cave at the end of the clearing and saw that Sasuke Uchiha was standing at the entrance, purple chakra surrounded his body. Strange marks were on his body and his sharingan was activated.

"Sasuke" everyone whispered.

"Ino! Get out of Kin's body now! It looks like there is going be some drama some time soon!" shikamaru shouted from a clearing, he had already grabbed onto Chouji and dragged him into the bushes, Ino who was in Kin's body nodded and dispelled the jutsu immediately. She awoke in her real body seconds later, a bit of blood on her lip.

"Is this the true powers of the uchiha being displayed in front of me?" asked Neji, his eyes narrowed in confusion as soon as the thought hit him, "No this is different, the chakra is…evil"

"SASUKE!" sakura gushed happily, but her expression turned to horror when she looked at his face. His hair had grown, the whole of his face was covered in strange markings and he had a deadly look in his eye.

Sasuke seemed unaware of his surroundings for a while, but his eyes went straight to sakura, he saw the bruises all over her body, her hair had been cut and he asked in a deadly whisper.

"Sakura, who hurt you?"

Sakura was so scared by the way he sounded when he asked her that she could not reply straight away, weirdly though Zaku answered for her.

"I hurt her, so what? What are you going to do about it"

Sasuke sent him a murderous glare, Zaku immediately was scared into paralyse, sasuke's eyes held pure hatred towards him as he began walking towards him. Panicked Zaku raised his hands and cried.

"NOT SO FAST!" But as quick as lightening sasuke flash stepped behind Zaku and grabbed both his arms behind his back, sasuke then stepped on Zaku's back and whispered.

"You seem to be quite fond of these arms of yours" Zaku's heart leapt and he tried to look behind him, he was about to beg sasuke not to do the thing he was going to do but sasuke had already done it. Pulling and pressing down hard on Zaku's back sasuke managed to dislocate both of Zaku's arms. Zaku's screams tore through all the genins' souls, Ino looked disgusted and so did tenten, the boy members of each team just looked on in horror.

"Inooo!" cried Chouji

"I understand, let's go shikamaru" Ino squealed and the Ino-Shika-Chou team quickly scattered as sasuke turned and walked towards the masked sound ninja.

"Your turn now" sasuke said but as he passed sakura she grabbed onto his hand.

"Please sasuke, don't, their not worth it! Please I'm fine, naruto is fine, please come back!" she begged, real tears soaring from her eyes, she hugged sasuke, sasuke's body relaxed and immediately the marks over his body began to be drawn into the mark on his neck. Sasuke then collapsed and he was finally back to normal.

"Sasuke, you're strong" the sound ninja said and produced his scroll and placed it in front of sasuke's feet, sasuke was too tired and plus he didn't understand what had happened, he continued to listen.

"Let this be a gift to you, just please I ask your forgiveness and we vow not to lay a finger on you until you reach the tower" the masked man said and he wrapped an arm around Zaku's back and lifted him and he made to leave with Kin.

"Wait just one second!" cried sakura standing up "Why did you attack us?"

"We were given orders from orochimaru to find sasuke and test out his abilities" the genin replied.

"Orochimaru" whispered sakura "Then do you know how to remove the thing that is on sasuke's neck?"

"No idea, we were just given one order, to find and kill sasuke" the masked genin replied and then they flew into the trees and vanished. Sakura went over to sasuke who was sitting on the ground looking at his hands.

"Sakura what did I do?" he asked.

"You-you dislocated that genin's arm, he won't be able to use them again" sakura said.

"Don't tell naruto about what happened, he must never know okay!" demanded sasuke.

"But sasuke, we're a team!" began sakura

"Just be quiet sakura, please" sasuke said "He will only work himself into a fit again and if he passes out, we can't carry him"

"Ok fine" sakura replied.

"Ok we're off!" announced tenten, she had dropped into the clearing after all the fights had stopped and was helping lee onto his feet.

"Thank you for helping me lee san, I owe you my life" sakura said bowing respectfully to lee.

"I didn't do anything, it was that other team that really helped you sakura, I only collapsed" lee whispered.

"You tried and that's the main thing" sakura said and smiling, she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. Lee immediately turned bright red.

"Oh don't do that! You'll send him into fever" scolded tenten, not nastily though and threw lee over her shoulder and both she and Neji left team seven alone in the clearing.

A few moments later naruto came around, sasuke pinched his nose and naruto jumped up into the air, he took in his surroundings, everything was fuzzy for awhile but gradually his vision came back. He saw Shikamaru nara and Chouji Akimichi standing over him.

"Hi guys, what are you doing here? Is there a party?" asked naruto.

"Naruto! You've missed a whole entire fight!" cried Chouji.

"What between who?" asked naruto immediately leaping to his feet and looking for his teammates, he then looked suspiciously back at shikamaru and Chouji "Wait a sec, you guys haven't kidnapped me have you?".

"Baka" whispered shikamaru.

"Naruto!" cried a familiar voice. Naruto looked away from shikamaru and Chouji behind him and saw sakura and sasuke standing waving at him.

"SAKURA!" screamed naruto suddenly and he darted towards her, he couldn't speak and he just pointed at sakura's head.

"Huh, what is it naruto?" snapped sakura, her patience waning at seeing naruto's dumbfounded face.

"Your hair sakura chan, what happened? Who scalped you!" cried naruto.

"What? I'm not scalped, I just wanted to cut it short, you spend less time washing it that way" lied sakura. Naruto looked closely at her smiling face for a good while then accepted the lie without much of a quarrel.

A few minutes later the other teams left them in the clearing and it wasn't long after that sasuke, naruto and sakura left this clearing with its (unknown to naruto) horrific battle memoirs.

THE END


	14. Chapter 14: Ambush outside the tower

Chapter 14: Ambush outside the tower 

Naruto, sasuke and sakura continued as normal to made their way towards the tower, but halfway through their journey they realised they didn't know where on earth they were going, they came across a stream with red and white carp jumping up and down occasionally in it,

"Food!" Naruto cried.

"At last!" whispered both sasuke and sakura.

"I'll get some firewood, sasuke and naruto you can deal with the fish" sakura gushed and immediately skipped away to gather the wood to start the fire.

"Naruto" said sasuke.

"Oh yeah, shadow clone jutsu!" naruto cried, immediately a lot of shadow clones appeared around them, naruto instructed them to get undressed down to their boxers and immediately one after another they went diving into the river, the real naruto joined in and went underwater to grab fish and chuck them into the air. Sasuke with his great aim threw a kunai through the fish's necks, hooking them to a nearby tree, immediately killing them.

They spent 15 minutes doing this, until they had enough for two fishes each. Naruto came soaking out of the water and shook off, sasuke immediately started to set about cleaning and cooking the fish. Sakura had started the fire and they all sat together to watch the fish start to slowly cook.

"I'm going to get more wood" sasuke said after a while "Naruto! If they are done, before I return don't eat all the fishes got it!" Naruto nodded although his eyes never left the biggest fish on the spitfire.

(15 minutes later, sasuke has been gone for a long time)

"Hey naruto" whispered sakura, naruto stopped staring at the fish and looked at sakura waiting for her to continue. Sakura took out the scroll in her bag and continued.

"We have one day left to find the tower, why don't we open the scroll? Maybe it has some information on how to get to the tower".

"What! No way sakura, sasuke will kill me, plus we don't have any idea what will come out of it!" cried naruto anxiously.

"Do you always do what sasuke tells you to do? Don't you think that sometimes even he can get it wrong" asked sakura.

"Well, yeah, but, no sasuke had the look about him when he told us not to open it" naruto stuttered.

"What look?" asked sakura confused. Naruto did a passable imitation of sasuke's serious face and repeated the exact words he had heard his friend say the day before.

"You've got to be kidding me" sakura said.

"No, I'm not going to do it!" naruto said and wrapped his arms together and turned his back on sakura stubbornly.

"I'll go out on a date with you" sakura blurted out.

"WHAT!" said naruto blushing furiously, sakura had a coy look on her face, her eyes were flirtatious and naruto seriously couldn't resist.

"OK! But let me get my kunai" naruto said and he took a kunai from out of his kunai holster. Sakura gulped and placed a finger over the opening of the scroll, very slowly, naruto and sakura began to open it. Slowly, slowly, the lock that held the scroll together was unlocked but just as sakura was about to pull it open, a hand firmly stopped her.

(Meanwhile)

Sasuke was walking back towards the place where sakura and naruto was watching the fish. Suddenly he saw a mysterious figure crouching beside naruto and sakura, the stranger was holding onto sakura's hand firmly. Dropping his firewood to the ground he cried.

"STAY AWAY FROM THEM!"

(a while later)

"You guys did what!" squawked sasuke, as moments later he realised that the stranger, who was in fact kabuto, was trying to stop sakura from creating the biggest mistake of her life.

"I'm so sorry sasuke, she promised you know" naruto began to mumble placing his hands at the side of his pelvis and moving his hips back and forth to emphasise a point. "No man can resist that you know", he bowed his head in guilt, sakura mimicked him as well.

"I'm so disappointed in both of you, rules are set for a reason!" sasuke scolded as the two in front of him just scuffled their feet.

"Anyway shouldn't you guys be at the tower by now?" asked kabuto.

"Well you're one to talk, haven't you been to this contest seven times already? What are YOU still doing out here?" asked naruto suspiciously. He didn't know why but he felt suspicious about this veteran genin every time he saw him.

"I wonder if he's using us to get ahead" naruto thought to himself "I don't care if he's older and faster, any smart moves and his dead!"

"We were just making our way towards it, me and my team, but I saw you guys opening the scroll and I just couldn't let you get disqualified" Kabuto said looking embarrassed.

"Thank you, we owe you a lot kabuto!" sakura said and sasuke nodded in approval.

"Then why didn't you get to the tower on the first day?" asked naruto looking accusingly at the grey haired man.

"Naruto quit interrogating him, without him we would have been disqualified and out of the exams!" scolded sasuke defensively siding with kabuto.

"It's really okay, it does sound fishy in a way, but we wanted to see how the other teams were doing before we headed for the tower you know, I really want as many leaf genins to qualify" kabuto explained.

"Why, is there more danger ahead?" asked sasuke.

"More? Why did you get into a fight already?" asked kabuto.

"Never mind, just answer the question please" said sasuke.

" You see, if you had travelled non stop and been halfway towards the tower by day three, then everything would have been swell, but you guys have left it late and many teams are still without scrolls" kabuto said.

"So what? They have lost haven't they? They should give up" said sakura.

"Please, do you seriously think there are rules in this exercise? There are none, it's a survival exam! It's eat or be eaten, so because of this, any teams without their scroll, their first priority is to surround and ambush any late comers coming into the tower by hiding around the tower, that way they reckon because most teams will be exhausted, it will be easier to acquire a scroll and still get through the exam. The second type of ninjas you need to be wary of are called scroll collectors".

"Scroll collectors?" asked sakura petrified.

"That's right and these guys are deadly, they are more powerful ninjas from their village that like to take scrolls off other competiting genins, in order to supply their own, with scrolls, in order to get them through the exam" Kabuto said.

"So you reckon that these scroll collectors will be hiding out waiting for us?" asked sasuke.

"There's no doubt about it, it's a certainty. But because I'm a nice guy I'll come with you to help you through it" Kabuto answered.

"That's all fun and chirpers, but what do YOU get out of this?" asked naruto, still being suspicious.

"Absolutely nothing, I expect no favours, I have both of my scrolls already so I'm not trying to acquire another set" sighed kabuto and produced two scrolls out of his bag, naruto gasped and decided to cool down, but he knew he would return to this subject later on.

"So let's get going then" sasuke said and he led the way. Kabuto hesitated for a while and nodded in understanding.

"Let's go to the tower!" cried naruto and they collected their belongings and immediately set off to complete the rest of their journey.

(A few hours later))

They travelled for hours, then rested, then started travelling again. Darkness caught them though but it was okay for they had reached an old ruined tower set in front of a massive full moon, they were currently on a cliff ledge looking downwards into the valley where the tower stood, the entrance was blocked by the tall foliage of trees that created a forest around the tower so the genins couldn't see the entrance.

"Come on then guys, let's get going" said naruto and they began to walk down, they were all tense, they were walking for about 15 minutes when naruto cried out in warning, he threw a kunai into a shadowy figure that was attached to a tree. Sakura screamed when they saw it was a massive centipede that had been crawling up the tree at the time. It was now dead.

"Naruto please, will you stop throwing kunais around, it could alert the collectors" kabuto scolded.

"I'm sorry I really thought it was somebody seriously!" begged naruto but sasuke and sakura walked passed him head shaking from side to side in contempt.

(3 hours later)

They had been walking for three hours now, naruto felt so tired that he thought he was hallucinating because the tower they were supposed to be walking towards was not getting a tiny bit nearer.

"Is it just me or doesn't that tower look like its getting any closer?" asked naruto he was sweating profusely and his legs felt like lead.

"Yes and guess what it definitely isn't, look" sasuke said and pointed sideways, sakura and naruto both gasped but kabuto and sasuke remained looking unfazed when they saw that they were at the tree where the dead centipede was.

"But that's impossible, are we walking in circles?" asked naruto.

"No it's a genjutsu" sasuke and kabuto said together. They became very still and pulled out their kunais waiting for an unseen attack. Sasuke had all his senses activated; he heard the leaves flowing through the trees and something else.

"Look!" screamed sakura, sasuke turned and saw a spiky brown haired ninja appearing from out of the ground, he was wearing some type of wetsuit similar to the first ninja that had attacked them when they had just entered the forest. Sasuke, Kabuto, sakura and naruto then realised they were surrounded by millions of the same ninja.

"Ok this is really starting to piss me off! Time to bust them down!" naruto cried and punched the nearest ninja beside him in the guts, he reckoned it was just a shadow clone but he was shocked when his fist went straight through his adversary without even touching him.

"What the hell?" cried naruto and sent another punch for good measure. But again his fists went through.

"Naruto wait! Stop using all your chakra!" Kabuto instructed "These guys, there's something weird about them".

"Oh how did you come up with that conclusion? Mr Smarty pants?" asked naruto sarcastically as he comically starting throwing a series of wild punches that didn't seem to trouble the victim of his attacks at all.

"I'll see what's going on" whispered sasuke from behind kabuto and he began to activate his sharingan, he was able to see chakra networks inside the clones before his vision began to wobble and the curse mark on his neck began to burn like acid. He yelped in pain and dropped to the ground.

"Sasuke!" cried sakura and naruto at the same time.

"Naruto, cover me God damn it!" cursed Kabuto as he tried to stab through the clones in front of him.

"Okay looks like one or two punches aren't affecting these guys at all, let's see how they handle a thousand clones!" cried naruto.

"Naruto" hissed sasuke but he didn't have the strength to speak. His lower lip was getting sore because he had bit down on it to stop himself crying in pain. Sakura stood comfortingly beside him looking worried. There came a cry as naruto released his shadow clones and instructed them to attack their enemies.

"It's useless, can't he get that through his thick skull?" asked kabuto as he came to the side to speak to sasuke.

"No he can't. That's naruto for you, he's more into action than thinking, listen I have an idea on how to stop them" sasuke whispered.

"How?" asked both kabuto and sakura.

"Those clones aren't real ninjas, they are being controlled by a hidden master, I think the ninja is waiting for us all to use up our chakra and then they will reveal themselves" sasuke explained.

"But that could take ages" sakura said.

"I know, I'll give a hidden signal for you all to hide when the time is right, until then we fight" sasuke said and he slowly began to stand "We follow naruto's knuckle headed idea until the time when we can strike". Kabuto and sakura nodded.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" sasuke said and immediately a few clones appeared at his side, kabuto and sakura mimicked him and they went straight into action. Naruto frantic grunts and roars scattered the birds who flew up into the pitch black sky where a full moon had risen.

Hours later, naruto, sasuke, kabuto and sakura had reached their limit, they fell to the ground in front of the puppet ninjas and they couldn't stand back up.

"Oh man, how could this have happened?" asked naruto to himself as his legs began to shake in fatigue.

"Ha-ha, time to break the jutsu then" said a echoing voice, suddenly the clones vanished and there appeared two ninjas, sasuke could tell these were the real ones straight away, they walked nonchalantly towards the genins, that crouched tired in the middle of the clearing, they were confident that their plan had not been sabotaged. The leader, the one in the middle raised his kunai.

"This is for my friend" said the ninja, he was about to use his kunai on sasuke when suddenly the genins in front of him vanished in a puff of smoke.

"What?" he gasped.

"You guys really thought we were a couple of idiots didn't you?" said a voice; the ninjas turned and saw themselves outnumbered by the real Kabuto, sasuke, naruto and sakura. They had one clone of themselves surrounding their enemies, a kunai pointing at their backs and throats in warning.

"Now give us your scrolls and you may live" sasuke said. The ninjas, wanting to spare their lives surrendered their scrolls willingly. Luckily it was an earth scroll, the exact scroll, team seven needed. Naruto looked suspiciously at kabuto, but the ninja's expression didn't flinch.

"Onto the tower then?" he said smiling innocuously. Team seven nodded and continued on their journey to the tall silhouette in the distance that was the tower.

As they neared the entrance a voice called.

"Kabuto!" Sasuke, Naruto, Kabuto and sakura came to a halt and saw a masked guy wearing dark purple ninja attire approaching them; kabuto raised a hand in greeting to his comrade.

"Kabuto thanks for your help, we owe you one" said sasuke shaking hands with the grey haired teen.

"Anytime, I have to be heading through another entrance so I'll see you guys later on okay" Kabuto replied and he turned to make his leave. Sasuke, Naruto and sakura turned to look at the double doors in front of them.

"So we've made it" sasuke whispered. He opened the door and stepped into a big open space, it was a small meeting hall, with wooden floorboards, blank white walls with nothing on them except for a large plaque with some writing on it.

"Where is everyone?" asked sakura.

"Maybe they have to go to another room?" guessed naruto.

"What's this?" asked sasuke looking at a wall message that was the only thing that decorated the blank wall.

"Let's see it says, heaven + earth = power" said sakura

"What the hell does that mean?" asked naruto.

"I really don't know" sakura said "Is it some sort of riddle?"

"Maybe we have to find out what it means in order to pass through" Naruto said.

"Open the scroll" said sasuke, both sakura and naruto looked at him with shocked expressions, sasuke turned seriously to naruto and nodded.

"Are you sure sasuke?" began sakura but naruto had already taken the scroll from her and placed it on the floor, he opened the scroll and they saw a circle with symbols around it in the centre of the scroll.

"It's a summoning" observed sasuke and he bit his finger, before he placed his finger to the scroll however he looked at naruto and sakura "Stand back". They obediently stepped backwards and sasuke swiped his bleeding thumb over the scroll, suddenly a trial of smoke started to billow from the centre of the scroll, suddenly there was a huge explosion of smoke which nearly sent sasuke, naruto and sakura flying backwards. After they had stopped coughing, team seven looked up and were absolutely relieved to see Iruka sensei standing on top of the sealing mark in the middle of the scroll.

"Hi guys" said Iruka.

"Iruka sensei! What are you doing here?" cried naruto aghast "You're not going to hurt us for opening the scroll are you?"

"No I'm just here to tell you guys that you all pass, congratulations!" gushed Iruka smiling his pearly white teethed smile.

"YEAH!" Naruto cried jumping up and down in excitement.

"Naruto" said a stern voice, naruto stopped jumping around and looked at his teacher, and he was looking serious now.

"Listen naruto" began iruka.

"I know what you're going to say sensei, I'm a ninja I should be more serious, I am not a little naïve kid you know sensei, I know these things, you and old man hokage don't need to keep telling me" naruto protested.

"Naruto" whispered iruka, his eyes started to get wet in happiness but he daren't not cry and show favouritism.

"Can I ask you something sensei?" asked sakura.

"Yeah, go straight ahead?" said iruka.

"What does that plaque mean?" asked sakura.

"Oh of course, I forgot, the second reason why I came here was to explain what this message means, basically he means if you're strength lies in your body, you should aim to acquire knowledge through studying ninjutsu, genjutsu and other jutsus to improve your intelligence, and also, if your strength is in your intellect, you must learn to train your body so that you do not become a hindrance to your teammates because you don't have the stamina to keep up in a mission. Basically when heaven (your intelligence) + earth (your physical strength) combine you will receive much more power, power + wisdom is the goal to becoming a strong ninja".

"Oh" whispered team seven.

"But anyway I am so proud of you for reaching so far in such a tough competition, I wish you well on the other exam and remember to work together and not against each other, always work as a team" Iruka said and with that he vanished.

"Goodbye Iruka sensei, next time you see me I will be a chuunin!" cried naruto to nobody in particular.

"Well what do you do now?" asked naruto when iruka had vanished. There appeared a door at the other end of the room underneath the balcony in the far corner. The genins would have missed it if they hadn't been looking closely.

Sasuke looked at naruto and sakura who nodded, they crossed the room and sasuke opened the door into the main hall.

The exam was far from over.

THE END


	15. Chapter 15: Sasuke takes centre stage

Chapter 15: The Preliminaries, sasuke takes centre stage

"Good morning, to all of you that have made it through the second round of the chuunin exams. I am very proud of all of you. You have all represented your country very well so far" boomed the hokage the next morning. All the surviving teams were stood to attention in front of him, a little sleepy but trying to stay awake. Beside the hokage stood the top jounins from the leaf village and the chuunin exam proctors that have mentored them so far. Occasionally the silence that was left by the hokage was broken only by a few coughing fits from a long brown haired jounin with protruding black eyes.

"Why doesn't he get some medicine?" whimpered naruto a bit frustrated, he got nudged painfully in the side by sakura for his cheek.

"Now there is something that all of you have to do before you can progress to the third round" the hokage said. Immediately there was uproar from some of the genins.

"YOU WHAT?" cried an irritated Kiba, hinata had a hand on his arm but the young genin couldn't be settled "Another stupid test? I thought there were just three rounds, the first, the second and the third, can't anybody count in this village?"

"Yes! We can count for your information. There is simply too many of you that have passed the second exam. To cut down the numbers we need to hold a special exam, to wheedle out the chumps as any sportsperson would say" The hokage explained.

"But why lord hokage?" asked Ino "Surely getting out of that forest with this amount of genins still alive should prove to you that we are the best".

"A truly strong ninja can survive under pressurized environments. You managed to get through the exam because you took your time. You were able to rest, get your breathe back and get a few hours of sleep. This test will see if you have enough stamina and willpower" the hokage explained "Why do you think we have these exams in the first place, can anyone tell me?".

There was no answer.

"Many of you are picked for missions based on your skills and so on. The same will happen when you become chuunins. The feudal lords from every country and village will be attending the third exam to see and to keep up to date of all the new ninjas that are coming out of the five great shinobi villages. So we can't put amateurs in front of them" the hokage lectured.

Kiba remained open mouthed but closed his mouth after he thought through what the hokage was trying to say.

"So that is what this exam is about? You guys showing us off" asked sasuke loudly.

"Not to just show off, no. For years, the chuunin exams have improved our relationships with other neighbouring villages, to strength alliances and so on, and also it's a chance to exchange ideas and help other nations to train their own ninjas as well, so that we can properly balance out our wisdom and skills among our neighbours, to create a prosperous and stable nation" the hokage replied.

"Sasuke what's that on your neck?" asked naruto abruptly. Sasuke immediately tried to cover the curse mark on his neck but naruto stopped him by brushing his hands to one side.

"Hey what's going on? That wasn't there before" naruto whispered.

"It's just a birth mark, its nothing" sasuke hissed back.

"No way is that a birth mark" naruto interjected.

"Naruto please, we'll talk about it later" sasuke snapped back.

The ill brown haired jounin stepped forward, coughed and said;

"Listen closely, these preliminary exams will be one and one, full contact battles. Above your heads, on the blank screen in the middle of the room there will be displayed a panel that will display two names at random, the genins whose names appear on the panel are to make their way to the centre of the hall to fight, whoever wins advances onto the next round. There is no draws, either one goes through or both go out. The rest of you that are not called to fight will be asked to wait on the balconies above to await your turn to fight".

"Oh yeah if anyone does not wish to take part in these exams, you are entitled to go, I'll give you all 5 minutes to decide on whether or not you wish to continue" The jounin added.

"I'm going through naruto" sasuke said quickly.

"First tell me what that thing is on your neck" naruto whispered.

"Forget it, I hope you are sticking this out because I would love to fight you naruto" sasuke interrupted.

"You would? We'll have to be serious though, we can't hold back" Naruto said.

"I know, that's why I want to fight you" sasuke said.

"Sasuke, what about the mark? Remember you told me it doesn't react well with your sharingan" sakura whispered in sasuke's ear.

"Sakura I'll be fine, I'll think of something" sasuke hissed.

"But sasuke" sakura whispered.

"Sakura it's fine, if anything happens, they'll stop the fight" naruto said comfortingly. Sakura looked at naruto's determined face and dropped her argument.

"Thank you naruto, by the way, don't tell kakashi or any other jounin in the tournament until after the exams finish, you hear" whispered sasuke turning to look naruto right in the eye.

"I… won't tell, unless you get seriously injured" Naruto said after a small pause. Sasuke smiled at him and placed a warm hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Good luck mate" sasuke said.

"You too" Naruto said giving sasuke a wide smile and slapped him right on the curse mark.

"OUCH!" screamed sasuke giving naruto a resentful look as he gently rubbed his sore neck.

"Sorry! I was aiming for your shoulder" said naruto.

Naruto, sasuke and sakura made their way up to the balconies. The panel appeared out of the wall in the middle of the room above the statue of two hands in a single hand seal. It turned on and began flashing wildly through a list of what appeared to be names. Suddenly it stopped and two names appeared.

_Sasuke Uchiha Vs Yoroi _

Sasuke smiled. They had chosen him to be first. Sasuke walked onto the exam floor to loud cheers caused by an energetic naruto.

"Go on sasuke! Beat up that guy, you can do it!" cried naruto.

"Your friend had better be prepared to come down and pick up your dead body after this fight" whispered Yoroi.

"It is you who will be walking off on a stretcher" sasuke replied, not smiling. This was his fight to showcase all his skills, failure was not an option, and it was time to get serious.

"Shake hands" The brown haired jounin instructed. Both genins shook hands, and then stood far apart from one another.

"Begin!" the jounin cried and as quick as lightening Yoroi lunged at sasuke.

Sasuke didn't have time to dodge before the broad ninja had him pinned to the ground, with a hand to his forehead

"OI HE CHEATED!" roared naruto at the brown haired jounin, the jounin looked at naruto as if to say "Look kid I'm ill, I really don't give a fuck at this moment in time".

Yoroi meanwhile had sasuke still pinned to the ground and sasuke wasn't pushing him off. Sasuke was slightly confused because his body's strength was evaporating into thin air, sasuke's body felt numb and lifeless.

"You" whispered sasuke "You've done something to my body".

"Have you just realised?" asked Yoroi "A bit slow aren't ya?"

Sasuke felt so weak, he knew it had something to do with Yoroi being on top of him, so with all his willpower he brought his legs up and gave Yoroi a hard knee in the back, putting him into shock and making him leap off of sasuke. Sasuke staggered with his back turned across the floor. But Yoroi kept advancing. Sasuke didn't have time to make seals and he began to use taijutsu to dodge Yoroi furious attacks.

"If I don't make him touch me, I'm fine" sasuke thought to himself "His too quick, I can't use ninjutsu on him, he doesn't give me a chance, genjutsu is ruled out, so I have to stick with taijutsu!"

"Sasuke what is that? And you call yourself an uchiha!" cried naruto with scorn. That touched sasuke immediately and he made eye contact with naruto, he gave him a furious look then his eyes went straight to the person beside naruto. It was lee.

Suddenly sasuke had an idea. Inside he thanked naruto for calling out to him at that moment in life, a smile curved his lips.

As Yoroi made another series of attacks, sasuke was ready for it, he dodged more quickly this time, and then he quickly dropped to the ground and sent a kick crashing into Yoroi's chin, lifting him into the air like a rocket. Sasuke then vanished and appeared behind Yoroi.

"No way" whispered Yoroi "Dancing leaf shadow"

"Now it's my turn" whispered sasuke. As he was about to use his sharingan, the pain came again, it started from his curse seal and the pain shot through his entire body paralysing him for a few moments and his whole body felt like acid was coursing through it. His neck felt like it was on fire. His vision was clouding, his judgement was clouding.

"No! What is this thing doing? It's trying to stop me from winning, I need to stop it, go back, go back, GO BACK!" thought sasuke to himself and as soon as it had come, it had vanished; sasuke opened his eyes, that were closed, in relief.

Naruto and sakura who were watching from the balcony saw the marks that were spreading across sasuke's body vanished completely.

"He didn't use it" sakura commented.

"That's it sasuke" naruto thought.

"What are you waiting for already?" asked Yoroi "Have you forgotten what to do?"

"No at all" sasuke replied, he swung his fist to hit Yoroi powerfully in the face that sent him soaring back to the ground, sasuke quickly followed up with a kick and a knee in Yoroi's stomach twice, Yoroi began falling faster to the ground. He crashed so violently a crater appeared underneath him.

"I'M NOT FINISHED!" sasuke screamed and sent one final kick in Yoroi's stomach for one final time, knocking him out and sending blood gushing from the genin's mouth. "LION'S BARRAGE!"

The impact of the attack sent sasuke flying over Yoroi's body; he ended up a few feet away from him across the hall. He landed face down on the floor, not moving.

"SASUKE!" screamed naruto and sakura into the silence. Sasuke continued to not move. The brown haired jounin looked at both combatants expectedly for a while.

"Come on sasuke, please God don't let it end like this" hissed naruto quietly. He wanted to go down and drag sasuke to his feet; he couldn't believe that that move had floored his genius friend. Sakura was jittery beside naruto as well and both of them were begging their teammate to get up.

The brown haired jounin was able to raise a hand to end the match as a draw when sasuke gave a small groan and began to get gingerly to his feet. He looked up at the body of his victim and smiled at his victory. The brown haired jounin pointed at sasuke and said.

"The winner is Sasuke Uchiha!" There was a cheer from both naruto and sakura who were jumping up and down and hugging each other in happiness. Sasuke stood up, looked up at his teammates and sent them a raised hand to show that he was fine. Then his vision wobbled and he was about to faint when kakashi sensei appeared suddenly out of thin air and caught him in his arms.

Naruto and sakura ran down to help kakashi sensei.

"I'm alright, I'm going to help remove that thing from sasuke's neck" Kakashi explained.

"What is it kakashi sensei?" asked naruto.

"It is a curse mark, it is a forbidden jutsu that mixes the ninja's chakra with the extra powers that reside inside it, its aim is to boost the power of the person that wears it" Kakashi explained.

"Kakashi sensei there was a fight in the forest, a guy called orochimaru gave it to sasuke!" blurted sakura.

"I know, what happened sakura, what did he say?" asked kakashi.

"He said that sasuke would come to him for power" sakura said trembling slightly "That he desires power to get revenge on someone".

"It's his brother" naruto whispered.

"What! But why?" asked sakura.

"Sasuke's family was killed by his brother, sasuke's whole life has been aimed towards bringing Itachi down or to justice" naruto explained.

"Then it's a good idea to keep orochimaru away from sasuke" kakashi said.

"I think orochimaru has infiltrated the chuunin exams, he could even be here, please sensei you must tell the hokage, his up to something, whoever he is!" cried naruto.

"I will. First I must deal with sasuke, goodbye and good luck" kakashi said and he vanished leaving naruto and sakura alone.

"After these preliminaries I'll go and see sasuke, I don't know what is going on, but I need to make sure that sasuke stays safe" naruto whispered.

Sakura nodded in agreement.

The matches began to pass by swiftly. Naruto and sakura got a first time glimpse of the different jutsus of fellow genins in their village. They watched the broken armed sound genin against shino aburame, the mysterious genin from a bug wielding family. Shino was able to summon bugs to clog up the air holes on the sound ninja's hands and the match was over in 5 minutes.

Then it was sakura's turn.

"Good luck sakura chan!" cried naruto hugging her.

"Thank you naruto" sakura said. She was nervous; she had been chosen to fight her long-term rival and former best friend Ino Yamanaka. Sakura looked at Ino who was walking out onto the middle of the arena floor and she whispered to herself.

"How can I do this? How can I fight her?"

"You have to sakura, remember to be serious, she'll be angrier with you if you don't fight seriously with her. But don't forget you are both equal and you've worked your butt off to be here!" said naruto passionately.

"I haven't really, you and sasuke have always saved my butt" said sakura looked downtrodden.

"Sakura Chan, who tried her best to protect both me and sasuke when we were knocked out for entire night in the forest of death?" asked naruto sternly.

"I did" said sakura.

"Exactly. Now get your butt down there!" demanded naruto.

THE END


	16. Chapter 16: Cat fight

Chapter 16: Cat fight

Sakura obediently followed naruto's order and went down to confront her ex best friend. Ino looked as nervous as she did. Immediately sakura knew that she would rather die than let Ino go easy on her.

"Listen to me Ino, I hope you are prepared and haven't been wasting your time, as usual, on your looks" sakura said scornfully.

"What did you say billboard brow?" screamed Ino eyebrows knotting together in anger.

"You heard me, you're always fighting with me over sasuke, do you honestly think sasuke would acknowledge someone like you? A girl more interested in her looks then her ninja skills!" snapped sakura not looking at Ino but showing her displeasure by smiling.

"YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR TALKING TO ME LIKE THAT, YOU BITCH!" roared Ino and to show sakura she was serious, she raised a kunai to her ponytail and chopped it off

"YOU SEE THIS! I'LL HAVE YOU EATING THIS AT MY FEET WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU!" cried Ino "I don't need it, you hear!"

"Way to go sakura" shouted naruto.

"Way to go indeed" said a voice. Naruto turned around and saw kakashi sensei leaning against the wall looking at the fight that was about to begin.

"Kakashi sensei! How's sasuke?" asked naruto.

"His okay, but I have him in a recovery room with anbu black ops watching over him" kakashi said.

"Can I see him later?" asked naruto.

"Sure, I'll come with you as well" kakashi said then he looked passed naruto "Look's like their about to begin".

The match could not have been closer. Ino and sakura were equal in strength. After about 15 minutes of bare hand fighting and using shadow clones they came to a standstill.

"AGH! That's it, I'm going to prove to you once and for all that I'm better than you!" cried Ino.

"Ha, go straight ahead, ino pig" sakura snarled.

Ino raised both hands in a square out in front of her. Sakura's eyes narrowed when she recognised the hand seal for the "mind transfer jutsu" the heirloom technique of the yamanaka clan.

"Ino are you sure you want to use that on me?" asked sakura smiling slightly.

"Shut up! Of course I do" snapped Ino.

"Mind transfer jutsu. The special kekkai kenkai technique of your clan, this jutsu allows the user's spirit to infiltrate the opponents mind and control their movements. It is an advantageous jutsu but there are deadly disadvantages" Sakura lectured "Number one, whilst performing this jutsu it takes a while for the target to be hit with it, this enables the opponent to dodge or run away, secondly the user's body is merely a doll when the user's spirit is inside the other person's body, without spiritual essence it is simply a ragdoll in which the user's body can be attacked without any defence made by the one that has conjured it, in simple language: this is not a battle type jutsu".

"Are you finished or are you going to fight?" asked Ino her eyebrows twitching because she knew sakura was spot on with her analysis of her family's jutsu.

"Okay if you really want to do this! GO STRAIGHT AHEAD!" sakura cried and starting to run away.

"Mind transfer jutsu!" cried Ino and immediately sakura stopped running, her head lolled forward and so did Ino's.

"Sakura NO!" thought naruto "She's screwed it up!"

"What a shame" said sakura raising her head after a little while, a large triumphant grin plastered across her face.

"Is it ino?" asked naruto to kakashi. Kakashi didn't answer but continued to look at sakura.

"Ino" sakura said finally after a small pause. Naruto gave a sigh in relief. Sakura, knowing she had an opportunity to grab a victory handed to her on a delicious plate, was about to finish off Ino when she found that her feet wouldn't move. She looked down and saw that around her ankles was a string of chakra rooting her to the spot. Sakura immediately looked up and saw that Ino was awake and was smiling at her joyfully.

"You are extremely naïve sakura; did you really think I'll perform my mind transfer jutsu just like that? Now I'm going to enter your mind and make you say you're giving up this fight!" Ino said, and smiling broadly she again began to make her hand seal.

"SAKURA GET OUT OF THERE!" roared naruto desperately ignoring the winced expressions of kakashi and from Ino's team.

Sakura tried to get her feet to move but it was too late.

"Mind transfer jutsu!" announced Ino and again both of their heads lolled forward and they became still.

The next time sakura's head rose, naruto knew from her eyes and body language that sakura was not sakura.

"Now sakura, it is time to bow out of this fight" Ino (in sakura's body) said and she was about to raise her hand when naruto screamed.

"SAKURA NOOOOOOOO, DON'T DO THIS, DON'T SHAME YOURSELF AND ALL THE HARD WORK YOU HAVE DONE UP TO THIS POINT, BY LOOSING TO THIS INO GIRL!"

Naruto stopped screaming and wanted to close his eyes feeling that his words hadn't made much difference. But suddenly sakura (who was Ino) began to shake violently and she placed her hand to her head and cried out in pain. Naruto and kakashi looked at the scene in confusion as did the other teams; suddenly sakura put down her hand and cried.

"No I'm not going to give up, not today and not any other day!"

Suddenly there was more screaming and shaking until finally sakura made a hand seal and dispelled Ino's spirit.

"Impossible, how could you have dispelled my jutsu!" cried Ino.

"Don't ever underestimate me, Ino" sakura sighed huffing and puffing tiredly.

Both girls stood up strong and a second later started to sprint towards each other.

"This looks like the last attack, come on sakura" thought naruto. Both girls connected fists and the sound of flesh hitting bone could be heard. Sakura and Ino had punched each other out.

They soared backwards and fell on the ground. Naruto's eyes widened in excitement when he saw sakura raise her head slightly but it all went terribly wrong and the pink haired girl collapsed on the ground alongside her rival and former best friend. The match had ended in a draw

"SAKURA NO!" naruto cried.

"This fight has ended in a draw, both fighters do not progress to the third round" The jounin announced. Kakashi sensei vanished behind naruto and reappeared down on the arena floor. So did Asuma, the jounin instructor of Ino's team. Kakashi scooped sakura into his arms gently and both he and asuma reappeared as quickly as lightening on top of the balcony between naruto, Shikamaru and Chouji.

"Ino!" Shikamaru and Chouji cried.

"SAKURA!" cried naruto. All the boys dashed towards their female team mate, naruto pressed a couple of fingers to sakura's pulse seeing if she had a safe heart beat.

"She'll be fine, she's just exhausted" kakashi said soothingly.

"All that hard work, wasted, sakura tried so hard" naruto said feeling his eyes go hot.

"She didn't make it through, but she did try her best and she has grown" kakashi said placing a comforting hand on naruto's shoulder.

A while later Sakura recovered to naruto's relief and naruto handed her a bottle of water.

"Thank you naruto" said sakura.

"It's no biggie" naruto said.

"I mean thank you for calling out to me in the fight, you are a true friend" sakura whispered. Naruto blushed and didn't know what to do other than rub his hair nervously and continue to watch the other fights.

THE END


	17. Chapter 17: Naruto vs Kiba

Chapter 17

More fights continued after sakura and ino's, including a fight with one of the sand ninjas taking part. Naruto could not help but gulp when he saw the girl (Temari) break a fellow leaf Nin's fall by using her giant fan to stop her falling. He was sure he had heard the girl's back break. Rock lee became suddenly furious and had to be stopped by his sensei Gai. The girl, temari though just casually walked away without a shred of remorse.

"She's deadly" sakura whispered.

"Those rotten sand ninjas, you just wait until I get a shot at them, they'll pay for what they did to tenten" naruto hissed, hitting his fist against his palm threateningly.

"Naruto you can't possibly defeat all of them, their pretty powerful" sakura said.

"Never say never, sakura, negativity only encourages you to fail" Naruto snapped back quickly.

Finally, after a couple of matches it was finally naruto's turn. He felt sad that sasuke was not here to see it though.

"I'll be up here cheering you on naruto, don't worry" Sakura said smiling. Naruto looked behind at kakashi sensei, who must have been smiling behind his mask in encouragement. Naruto nodded to him and went down to face his opponent kiba inuzuka.

Of all the people naruto had to be up against, he had dreaded being paired up with kiba. The boy was aggressive and arrogant and had way too many issues with naruto that he could count. Naruto could always remember him best, for him, always laughing at his failed attempts in class; kiba's laugh was the loudest and the most painful to hear above the low giggles of his other classmates.

"Oh my God, akamaru this is going to be so easy!" sneered kiba as he squared up to naruto.

"Hey leave that puppy out of this and fight me like a man!" snapped naruto.

"Akamaru stays, his my special weapon" said kiba.

Naruto looked at the referee. The jounin coughed and said.

"It's perfectly acceptable, like shino's bugs, akamaru is kiba's ninja tool".

"Oh okay, this is great, I work best when there's a handicap" said naruto.

"Akamaru is NOT a handicap, and I'll prove it to you" Kiba growled and he immediately popped what looked like a pill into his mouth and into his puppy's.

"You have got to be kidding me?" asked naruto to the jounin referee, the guy just stared at naruto as if saying "look kid I'm sick, figure it out on your own".

The immediate effects of the pill appeared quite suddenly, kiba became feral and so did his puppy, kiba got down on all fours and as quick as lightening appeared in front of naruto and elbowed him powerfully in the stomach. Naruto was immediately winded and tumbled backwards as far as the wall.

"Ref his out, come on akamaru" kiba said cheerfully and he was about to make his way back up to the balcony when a voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Wait just one second!" said a voice. Not quite believing what he was hearing or seeing kiba turned back around and saw naruto on his feet as if the attack he had just delivered had no effect against him.

"That attack should have floored you!" growled kiba at naruto's calm face.

"Compared with all the hits I've received in sparring matches, you hit like a little girl kiba" naruto said giving kiba a looser gesture with his hands.

Kiba immediately felt the anger he had been feeling at naruto's nonchalant attitude begin to come to the surface.

"Hurry up and bring that puppy into the fight, I've barely warmed up" cried naruto.

"We'll have you begging for your life after this fight you little brat!" cried kiba and looked at akamaru "Come on buddy!"

They sprinted towards naruto; naruto put his guarding arm up and was shocked to see kiba pull out of his ninja pouch what looked like smoke bombs.

"What the-!" began naruto but he didn't have time to register anything as the bombs had exploded and flung him into darkness. Suddenly sharp, hard punches and kicks were battering every inch of him; he knew that if he continued to stay in the smoke he would be dead meat, so he looked for an exit. He ran blindingly forward but he was pushed back in by akamaru. Finally a hard blow knocked him to the ground and that's when the smoke cleared.

"Good boy akamaru, come over here and give me a hug buddy!" cried kiba celebrating his victory until his eyes widened when he saw that naruto was getting back on his feet. Frustrated kiba popped another food pill into his mouth and as quick as lightening began to claw naruto violently in his back, front, face and literally began tearing him apart. Naruto tried to block the attacks but couldn't and he was back on the ground again.

"And stay down you little prick!" jeered kiba, but once again to his annoyance naruto got back up, gingerly, this time but he was able to stand, blood dribbled down from the scratches left from kiba's attacks, on his face and hands, his face was bruised, his lip split, he spat out some blood and gave kiba his most confident look of determination.

"Oi kiba, have you got any balls? Or are you really just a pussy?" he asked.

"WHAT?" kiba practically screamed.

"Get bloody serious, pull out all your moves, you're only using kiddy gloves like sakura and ino! When you feel like fighting like a man then let me know" cried naruto, unbeknownst to him kakashi sensei was trying to hold back an irate sakura, who was about to sprint down into the arena and give naruto a smack over the head for his cheek.

"Naruto…" kiba whispered to himself, his fists clenched in anger, he crouched onto the ground and so did akamaru, immediately after a cloud of smoke akamaru had become exactly like kiba, except for his eyes which were wilder than kiba's.

"Let's go akamaru!" roared kiba and lunged wildly towards naruto, again he brought out some more smoke bombs, he threw them into the air and immediately naruto was thrown into blackness. But this time instead of using basic martial arts to attack naruto, while he was blind and disorientated kiba used his body and began to twist around.

"GATSUUUGAAAA!" Kiba screamed and akamaru copied him and they both became like missiles heading towards a confused naruto. Naruto screamed in pain when they both made contact with him and went soaring across the ground, his face bloodied he ended up face down on the ground.

"You wanted me to get serious, NOW I AM SERIOUS YOU BASTARD!" kiba screamed. Naruto was dead still. Kiba saw the jounin proctor shift slightly to raise his hands but, to kiba's annoyance he stopped.

"What, what are you waiting for? The match is over!" snapped kiba turning his back on naruto and walking up to the examiner. The jounin simply pointed his finger behind kiba. Kiba looked slowly behind him and saw naruto's hand reaching towards his headband protector. Storming over quickly kiba stomped on naruto's hand furiously.

"Listen, please surrender, you're a failure and you will always be a failure!" snarled kiba.

"OI KIBA GET YOUR DIRTY BOOTS OFF OF HIM!" screamed sakura from above. Kiba's nose merely twitched in annoyance.

"No" whispered naruto through clenched teeth "I will be hokage".

Kiba was silent for a moment and began to laugh, a cold mirthless, horrible laugh which echoed around the hall.

"Hokage, a squirt like you will never become hokage, I'll do you a favour, everyone here will do you a favour, they'll become hokage first and then you can get the position after us, being hokage is no joke tittle, you have to be powerful and wise, naruto your neither!" explained kiba as if explaining it to a simpleton. He got off naruto's hand and walked away back to the proctor.

"It's over" kiba said.

"NO IT ISN'T!" screamed a voice. Naruto snatched his forehead protector off the ground and stood up, everybody in the stands above was silent hoping to see what the number one hyperactive knuckle head ninja was about to do.

"Let's end this shall we?" asked naruto.

"Okay" laughed kiba and he again signalled for akamaru to follow his lead. He threw the smoke bombs and did gatsuuga again. This time however naruto had a plan.

"Here I go" he thought to himself and made a hand seal.

Immediately kiba dispelled his jutsu. Everyone looked down in confusion at the sudden halting of the fight below. The mist, slowly, began to clear and sakura's sharp eyes saw what had stopped kiba's onslaught. There were three clones of him on the match floor.

"Which one is akamaru?" asked sakura but kakashi sensei smiling, placed a finger where his mouth was.

Down below on the arena floor kiba was just as confused as sakura.

"I must give you the benefit of the doubt naruto, you have some brains, but" kiba began then he turned to the kiba on his right "BUT YOUR NOT SMARTER THAN ME, NO WAY!" and he punched the kiba powerfully in the face. Feeling superior and confident kiba waited until the kiba on the ground vanished and became naruto again, but he was shocked to see that akamaru was the one on the ground, defeated.

"Aka…maru" gasped kiba, he turned to the other kiba behind him "Impossible, my sense of smell, what is happening?"

He looked between the akamaru on the ground and the one kiba behind him and he suddenly lunged towards the other one.

"You think you're so smart, making me hit akamaru? Well take this!" and he punched the other kiba. But this one, too, turned out to be akamaru. Knowing he had been duped kiba's heart began to race, he quickly turned back to the other akamaru but it was too late, naruto had leapt in the air and had given him a good smack in the nose, breaking it and leaving him disorientated as blood exploded in his eyes and in his face.

Then naruto made hand seals and a circle of shadow clones surrounded kiba. As quick as lightening naruto again leapt in the air and kicked kiba this time in the chin, kiba (with his body paralysed in pain) had no defence and began to lift up, the shadow clones skidded underneath him and all of them sent him skywards more powerfully, one naruto that was already in the air came soaring back down and used his feet to send kiba crashing back down to the ground head first, knocking him out straight away with the sheer force of his kick.

"NARUTO BARRAGE!" naruto announced his new attack. Then he landed on the ground in exhaustion watching, as the examiner made his way towards kiba, the jounin looked at kiba's busted nose and clicked his fingers. There was no reply from the genin so the jounin gave naruto his deserved victory.

"YEAH NARUTO, GO NARUTO, YOU DID IT!" roared sakura to a wave of applause from all the leaf teams, there was round of applause from the sand ninjas. Naruto was totally exhausted, he bent down and tried to steady his breathing and finally went up back to kakashi and sakura. On his way he saw hinata standing in his way.

"Hi naruto…Kun" she stammered.

"Oh hi hinata, I'm sorry about kiba" began naruto.

"No, its okay, here, some cream for your injuries" hinata said and quickly handed naruto a tub of cream out of her ninja pouch. Naruto took it just to be nice and gave hinata a friendly smile and went back to his teammate. Sakura hugged him and told him well done; kakashi didn't hug him but nodded. Shikamaru and Chouji came over and hugged and shook naruto's time.

"Imagine you defeating that jerk" Chouji gasped.

"You should be bowing to me already guys" joked naruto

"Hey don't let it get to your brain, you still haven't fought us yet" shikamaru snarled

Naruto scoffed but the three of them laughed it off. Naruto turned by to kakashi.

"I can't wait to tell sasuke I've got through, can I see him kakashi sensei?" asked naruto.

"No his being protected, the ANBU on duty will not let you in" Kakashi explained, naruto felt sad but he couldn't help but laugh to himself imagining sasuke scowling in annoyance in a hospital bed surrounded by anbu black ops.

The fights carried on and finally it was the shy hinata's turn to fight. Naruto was rather reluctant to watch this fight, he was prepared to sit down and fall asleep, but he wanted to see why hinata and neji shared the same name.

THE END


	18. Chapter18: Sasuke' assassination failure

Chapter 18

While hinata and neji prepared to start fighting, rock lee had become naruto's teacher explaining to naruto all about the hyuuga clan.

"There are two branches of the hyuuga clan, the main and branch familiies, the main branch, are members of the clan that are directly descended from the head of the household, in this case Hyuuga Hiashi, whilst the branch family is a mere extension of the family consisting of cousins, still relatives by blood but not high in status. So, in the case of hinata and neji they are not siblings they are in fact cousins, the hyuuga clan's kekki genkai is the byakugan, it's a special eye technique like the sharingan, but it is much more powerful than the sharingan because the user can see directly through their opponent to their opponent's chakra network, which is the veins that carry chakra through a person's body" Rock lee explained.

"Can you go a bit slower" whispered naruto after lee had finished.

"It must be hard, kakashi sensei that they have to fight against each other" said sakura to kakashi.

"Not at all sakura chan, for many months now, there has been a lot of friction between the branch members of the clan and the main members, unfortunately I do not know the exact reason why" piped up lee.

"Makes a first" whispered naruto but sakura gave him a smack over the head for being rude to lee.

As sakura was asking lee a few more questions, naruto strained his ears (trying to be noisy) to hear what neji was saying to hinata.

"You're a failure hinata and a failure will always be a failure!" scolded neji.

That made naruto signal to the others to stop talking so that he could hear the entire conversation. He had to listen as neji psychologically tortured hinata so that she could give up on her dreams of becoming a ninja, neji was not being smart to naruto but he was being a bully and naruto could always recognise a bully when he saw one.

After watching as hinata began to descend into a mental breakdown naruto just could not believe the utter bullshit neji was coming out with.

"Hinata don't listen to this asshole! He knows nothing about you; you show him that you didn't have a silver spoon shoved into your mouth to make it here! You travelled through that forest, you fought off enemy ninjas for those scrolls and you are now here as you have every right to be!" roared naruto "Your embarrassing me and everyone else here by making this neji guy work you up before you've even begun to fight!".

Hinata looked at naruto through eyes that seemed like she was drowning, but immediately naruto saw the light return to them when she looked at him, naruto didn't know what to think when he saw her eyes change, but it sure as hell made her look much more attractive to him.

Hinata finally got serious and activated her byakugan. Naruto could not have imagined what might happen at the end of the battle. But the results were deadly.

Neji was simply stronger and better than hinata, the little girl tried, oh kami she did, but not even naruto could save her from the mere fact that neji was born a prodigy and she was not quite up to the par against him. Neji had used his special hyuuga style taijutsu to block up hinata's chakra veins and had punctured her lungs causing her to cough up a lot of blood and end up on the ground surrounded by it by the end of the match. Naruto felt so guilty that he had to go down and see her.

"Hinata!" he cried. She was now not awake, naruto began to shake in guilt and sadness, the small girl was close to death because of him, because he had pushed her. He clenched his fists and picked up her blood.

"I'll show you" he whispered to her "That a failure can succeed, I make a vow on your blood" he turned to neji who stood at the far end of the hall looking amused. He pointed his bloodied finger at neji and cried "You and me will fight and I will win!"

"Is that a challenge?" asked neji his eyes twitching.

"What. Are you as dumb, as you are blind?" sneered naruto.

"How dare you!" began neji, he was about to attack naruto when Gai stopped him.

"Neji stop this NOW!" demanded Gai. Neji turned on his heel, after looking gai in the eye, and made his way back onto the balconies above to join the rest of his teammates; lee did not talk to him.

"That's right! go and run to your little hideaway, you can't stand and fight me like a man can you? You have to bully a girl psychologically don't you, so you can get out of fighting!" cried naruto, his eyes were hot with anger. A hand reached out and grabbed his shoulder. It was sakura.

"Naruto stop, come on, they have to start the next fight" sakura said. Naruto let her drag him away but naruto never looked away from neji. Not once.

His mood did not improve a bit when he saw gaara and lee's fight. At first naruto was amazed that such a little guy with bushy eyebrows could move so fast and cause so much damage on gaara supposedly the stronger genin in this tournament. But it just was not lee's day either. Gaara got him in one of his deadly attacks and broke his leg with his sand burial technique. Naruto saw through unbelieving eyes as lee screamed in pain and was knocked out.

"Come on bushy brows, wake up, wake up! You can do this" Naruto cried. But lee didn't budge. Suddenly naruto saw gaara's hand move again and this time naruto was not about to let another dear comrade get so injured, he was about to leap over the balcony but sakura dragged him back. Feeling betrayed he looked at her in disbelief and fury, but sakura pointed to the two combatants on the ground floor. Naruto saw that Lee's sensei Gai had intervened just in time and swept away gaara's sand.

"I need to get down there, let me go sakura chan please!" begged naruto, sakura looked naruto in the eye and after a while let him go. Naruto jumped over the balcony rails and began running towards lee. On his way there he passed gaara, he looked at him in confusion and anger, he couldn't believe that lee had lost to a guy like this, that wore ladies' make up and who looked like a right weirdo.

He came to where the medic ninjas were hoisting lee onto the stretcher, he was just in time to hear the medic nin say those lethal words.

"I'm sorry, but he'll never be a ninja again". Immediately naruto felt so hurt inside that lee such a friendly and honourable boy had damaged his whole ninja career with one fight. Sakura, was beside him and had heard what had happened and could only put a comforting hand on naruto's shoulder.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" cried naruto rounding on the medic ninjas, they continued to walk away carrying lee on the stretcher "TELLING PEOPLE THEY WILL NEVER BE WHAT THEY DREAM OF, YOU HAVE NO RESPECT, DO YOU HEAR ME, DO YOU HEAR ME?" Naruto couldn't deal with them ignoring his words and was just about to rush after them when kakashi sensei appeared and grabbed onto the back of his jacket.

"Kakashi sensei, why, why did this have to happen to lee?" asked naruto tears beginning to fall down his cheeks; he didn't bother to wipe them away.

"Lee was a strong opponent with a lot of potential, but he used a forbidden jutsu so he knew the consequences of using that technique, the way he continued to push himself whilst neglecting his own body will have its consequences in the end, and that is what lee has to live with now, the consequences of his actions" Kakashi explained.

"He didn't mean to though, he just wanted to prove himself to neji and sasuke" said naruto.

"Not just them, to you as well naruto, he wanted to prove to all the stronger genins in the leaf village that he could make it" Kakashi said "That was unfortunately his downfall".

"It's not fair" naruto could only mutter to himself.

The chuunin exams had ended, the genins that had made it through were as follows: sasuke, shikamaru, temari, dosu, kankarou, gaara, neji, shino and naruto. These finalists into the third round of the chunnin exams were standing to attention in front of the hokage.

"Congratulations on making it to the third round of the chunnin exams, now, before we get started on the one and one fighting matches I am giving all you a break" The hokage said.

"What another one? Why are we having all these hold ups?" cried temari.

"These exams are very important and you need time to train yourself, to have a rest, and to find out more about your opponents, and to create a strategy that will get you through your fights. Your proctors also need time to give out all the invitations to the visiting feudal lords and kages that are coming to the exams" the hokage replied. Temari was about to retort but thought better of it.

"Sakura, do you want to come and see sasuke with me?" asked naruto when all of the teams had dispersed to go their separate ways and rest up.

"No I have to do a few things for my mum" Sakura replied.

"I'll come with you naruto" kakashi sensei said.

"Man, I've got to remember to tell sasuke how strong gaara is and about bushy brows" naruto said.

"Bushy brows?" asked kakashi sensei confused.

"Lee" added naruto and kakashi nodded in understanding. Suddenly as they were rounding the corner to the restricted medical units kakashi stopped walking.

"Kakashi sensei?" asked naruto wondering why his sensei had abruptly stopped walking.

Kakashi looked up at the window where sasuke's room was and his eyebrows knotted together in confusion.

"Naruto stand behind me, I feel a strange presence coming from sasuke's room" kakashi said.

"Oh no, do you want me to get the ANBU? Wait a sec, I thought you said he was properly guarded, SASUKE!" cried naruto panicking and he dashed into the building.

"Naruto!" shouted kakashi and rushed after him.

Naruto opened the door of the room and was shocked by what he saw. A grey haired stranger was standing over sasuke's bed holding a knife to his throat. The figure turned and naruto saw that it was kabuto.

"Kabuto, I knew you couldn't be trusted! Get away from my friend you bastard!" naruto roared and he lunged towards kabuto, but kabuto sidestepped naruto's punch and kicked him hard in the abdomen so hard that naruto flew backwards and landed on the floor next to some ANBU guards that had been killed.

"No sasuke" croaked naruto. Just then, kakashi came sprinting into the room, he moved as fast as lightening and was able to knock the knife out of kabuto's hand. The two men above naruto began a series of hand to hand combat attacks. Naruto was badly winded and his vision was clouded but he was able to get up and make a hand seal.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" and two clones appeared at naruto's side. The naruto clones and kakashi encircled kabuto but he just stood there. Kakashi took his chance and wrestled him to the ground and pulled his arm behind his back in a strong arm lock.

"I've got you now, you little brat" said kakashi "Tell me what is your business with sasuke?"

"He is master orochimaru's chosen one, he will seek out my master, you can be sure of it" Kabuto said.

"Orochimaru" thought naruto, suddenly out of the corner of his eye he saw a dark figure jump up and the next thing they knew the window shattered and the real kabuto had escaped.

"This one is only a puppet" Kakashi snarled placing a finger to the puppet kabuto to feel its pulse. There wasn't any.

"Kakashi sensei what gives? Who is this orochimaru and why is he after sasuke?" asked naruto.

"Orochimaru was once a famous shinobi that lived in this village, but because of his sick experiments in creating forbidden jutsus he was banished. His goal in life is to be about to learn all jutsus in the world, and now he is after sasuke" Kakashi explained.

"But why?" asked naruto again.

"What has sasuke got? What is so unique about sasuke that will make him a target to greedy men like orochimaru" asked kakashi. Naruto thought for a moment then he saw sasuke when he had activated his sharingan and heard again haku telling him about kekkai genkai.

"The sharingan" naruto guessed.

"Exactly. Sasuke is the last surviving heir of a great clan; of course many people are after its secrets and powers. I think that is what orochimaru is after" kakashi replied "That's why he gave sasuke that cursed mark on his neck".

"What's a curse mark?" asked naruto.

"It's a forbidden jutsu that bends a person's will to the users'. That is why kabuto is confident that sasuke will seek out orochimaru, sasuke is an avenger, he wants to kill Itachi and orochimaru is using that to reel sasuke into his clutches" explained kakashi "Naruto, you need to look after him, sasuke is strong but he can't hold off the curse mark for long".

"But sasuke and I promised to defeat Itachi together, to get stronger together, he won't go to orochmaru I know him" naruto joked.

"When a person has nothing but revenge on their mind, it's hard to persuade them against it, I'm taking over sasuke's training to help him repress the powers of the mark and to prepare him for the chunnin exams" kakashi said.

"But what about me?" asked naruto.

"I'll find you a trainer I promise, a strong one, even stronger than me" Kakashi said giving naruto a thumbs up, naruto smiled back at him.

"Listen naruto, I may not always be there, so you, as well as sasuke need to train harder, I know you can do it, don't let me down" kakashi said.

"I won't, I'm going to be hokage remember" said naruto.

Naruto went to collect some flowers from the hospital and came back to sasuke's room and placed the flowers in an empty vase beside sasuke's bed.

"Don't worry mate, even if it kills me I'll find a way to get that mark off of you" naruto whispered. But he wished sasuke could hear him.

THE END


	19. Chapter 19: Naruto's Pervy Teacher

Chapter 19: Naruto's pervy teacher 

Kakashi had been looking all day for a trainer in order to be naruto's trainer for the chuunin exams, he had considered Ebisu but naruto soon gave kakashi a mouthful for even suggesting him. So kakashi needed a break, he decided to go to the hot springs for a soak, and to ease the pounding headache he was having. He was walking along and came to the hot springs that led to the male baths; he was shocked to see a stooped shaggy grey haired figure peeking at the girls in the hot springs next door.

"Excuse me sir, but these actions are frowned upon in this village you know" began kakashi.

"Does not stop you from reading my books does it kakashi?" asked the figure.

"What books? Who are you?, how do you know my name?" asked kakashi suddenly suspicious. The man turned and kakashi smiled.

"Well… long time no see" said kakashi.

(a few hours later)

"Kakashi sensei, open up!" cried naruto. Naruto had taken to banging on kakashi's door every day begging him to get a move on, with picking his new trainer. After a series of loud thumps that got no answer, naruto came to the conclusion that kakashi was not at home, he stopped knocking and, being as stubborn as a mule, he decided to roam the streets of konoha in search of his laidback sensei.

He was walking along behind some houses into a busy shopping area at noon, he was hungry and was about to get some lunch and start a second search when a voice called his name from a building; naruto looked up and saw kakashi sensei and a grey haired old man on the roof of a building looking out over the busy town.

"KAKASHI SENSEI! WHERE'S MY TRAINER ALREADY!" cried naruto angrily.

"Here he is" kakashi said and pointed to the old man beside him. Naruto gave kakashi his confused look, kakashi laughed and both men vanished and appeared on the ground before naruto.

"You were right kakashi, he is the splitting image of the fourth hokage" chuckled the old man.

"You-you knew the fourth hokage?" asked naruto, his eyes going immediately bright and excited "How did you know him? Was he your Grandchild? Tell me tell me tell me!"

"Hold on there kid, I trained the fourth hokage" said the old man proudly.

"Yeah right" scoffed naruto "You're just an old hermit; I bet you even break your back from jumping up and down".

The old man paused with his fists held threateningly in the air with his veins popping on his forehead.

"You little brat!" he began but kakashi stopped him from nearly strangling naruto.

"Naruto, this is jiraiya, remember, when I told you about orochimaru, this is another of the legendary ninja, he was on the same team as orochimaru and trained under the third hokage" explained kakashi.

"Show me a technique!" ordered naruto, ignoring kakashi's explanation, still not convinced.

"Oh well okay" said jiraiya sighing and he turned to the wall beside him, he held up one hand and a ball of blue chakra swirled on top of it and jiraiya pushed it into the wall, it left a huge hole in the concrete.

"WOW!" cried naruto.

"That is called the rasengan, it's a technique even the fourth hokage can do" said Jiraiya.

"Hell yeah, thanks kakashi sensei so much" gushed naruto and jumped into kakashi's arms. Kakashi put him down and patted him on the head. Usually naruto would have been furious at the petting but naruto had only eyes for jiraiya now.

"Have a good time kid, bye jiraiya" kakashi said and coolly walked off leaving Jiraiya and naruto alone.

"So tell me, what was the fourth hokage like, as a child?" asked naruto jumping up and down as he followed jiraiya everywhere.

"He was quiet, very serious but still a regular kid, like you" said jiraiya and stopped near an eating place "Man I'm starved".

He began walking into the eating place when naruto's screaming voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Hold on one minute! What about my training, I want to start now!"

"What? Are you crazy kid? I've only just arrived in konoha, I need a rest at least" jiraiya explained.

"No I'm not letting you go, your just going to sneak away and ditch your responsibilities!" snapped naruto.

"Okay, here's the reason why I'm not going to train you just yet, you need to pass a special test I've set up" said jiraiya facing naruto seriously.

"Is it a challenging test? Did the fourth hokage have to pass it?" asked naruto.

"Uh-huh, he passed with flying colours as well" jiraiya said

"Well come on then! What is the test?" asked naruto a little exasperated

Jiraiya looked around the eating place, there were a few small tables with people sitting outside to eat, jiraiya saw a beautiful thin black haired woman with black eyes and long beautiful legs. Jiraiya pointed to her.

"If you can get me a date with that lady over there, then I'll train you" jiraiya said.

"What? She barely knows you and you want me to ask her out for you" cried naruto

"You've got it kid, you have 2 hours to do it" said jiraiya and patted naruto on the head while he made his way away from the eating place.

"Where are you going" asked naruto rudely as he watched jiraiya walking casually away

"You may not know this kid, but I'm a well respected and famous novelist" Jiraiya said pointing proudly to himself "I just remembered i need to do some research for one of my books, so i can't have anything to eat just yet"

"Oh yeah what books have you written?" asked naruto suspiciously.

"WHAT! You haven't even seen one of my books, here!" jiraiya began dramatically and immediately showed naruto the front of the book inside his pocket.

"Make-out-paradise" naruto read, then the image of kakashi sensei reading a book with a half naked woman on the front popped into his mind "You write those pervy books!"

"I do not write pervy books, their books about female beauty that is all!" snapped jiraiya

"Yeah and I guess your readers really get off on them!" snapped naruto making a wanking gesture with his hands and scoffing.

"Kid, if you want me to train you, so you can become as strong as the fourth hokage, use your charms and get me a date with that lady" said jiraiya and stomped off angrily into the busy streets of konoha.

"This better be worth my time" whispered naruto to himself.

Using all his courage naruto walked confidently up to the lady who was sitting at the table. An idea had formed into his mind before he had got to the table and he immediately said

"Excuse me but my father would really like to get to know you"

"Sorry I don't date people I don't know" the lady replied

Naruto thought this was hopeless; this lady was clearly not interested in even meeting jiraiya let alone going with him on a date. But naruto thought about the cool jutsus jiraiya might be able to teach him and decided to turn on the waterworks; he began to cry into his hands.

"Oh please lady, ever since my mum died my dad has been wallowing in despair, he talks about leaving this world, he doesn't mean it, he only wants a partner who will give him a chance" sobbed naruto

The lady's suspicious eyes softened and she soothingly tried to get naruto to stop crying because he was making a scene.

"Okay I'll meet him, where does he want to meet me?" asked the lady

"At the bbq restaurant in 15 minutes, he said you were the most beautiful woman he has ever seen but he's so scared and shy that he couldn't approach you" explained naruto

"Okay tell him I'll meet him soon then" said the lady looking a bit guilty.

Naruto turned away from the lady wondering if he should be feeling guilty for tricking her like this. He found jiraiya crouching near the hot springs and felt frustrated with him.

"How old are you, you greasy old pervert!" snapped naruto loudly in jiraiya's ear. Immediately there was a cry from within the women's hot springs and the women started to run from the water to get changed.

"NO!, you see what you did you snooty nosed brat!" cried jiraiya "Those ladies had delicious looking nipples"

"I don't care! I've fixed you up with that cute girl you were looking at; she wants to see you in 15 minutes, don't be late you wouldn't believe what I had to do, to get her to go out with you in the first place!" screamed naruto

"Well done kid, good job!" cried jiraiya leaping like a kid to his feet and he began walking cheerfully down the road

"Hold the phone! What about my training" yelled naruto, running and standing in jiraiya's path of escape.

"What training?" asked jiraiya "Oh that training, let's see" Jiraiya looked around at the hot springs

"Kakashi told me you've already learnt how to walk up trees right"

"Yes" replied naruto

"I'll teach you how to walk on water, meet me here tomorrow at noon and we'll get started" Jiraiya said and patted naruto on the head and went off to meet his date

"How is walking on water supposed to make me stronger!" cried naruto but he got no reply back.

Naruto decided to go to the training compound to check on sasuke and kakashi. He saw them fighting hand to hand and saw when sasuke tried to master the chidori, naruto marvelled at sasuke's strength and agility, he tried not to be jealous that sasuke had a good teacher like kakashi whilst he had a perverted old man for one.

"Naruto what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with jiraiya?" asked kakashi stopping as he was about to fight sasuke.

"That old geezer that's supposed to be my sensei has buggered off on a date with a girl!" snapped naruto. Kakashi rubbed his hair nervously.

"Well that is how lord jiraiya is, he likes his women" said kakashi

"Whose jiraiya?" asked sasuke

"He's naruto teacher from now on until the chuunin exams" explained kakashi "Naruto to be fair you can't be here when me and sasuke are training, it's kind of like cheating"

"Okay, sasuke I'll see you later" said naruto and decided to get some ramen, do some training and go back home.

(That evening)

"Oi naruto open up!" whispered a muffled voice that evening, naruto was slurping on some ramen noodles and nearly chocked on it when he heard the knocking at the door, he opened up and sasuke came in, he looked exhausted, in his hand was a plastic bag with some dinner.

"You know, you could at least try one ramen bowl, it will save you money!" snapped naruto.

"I've told you, ramen tastes like shit" sasuke said and he sat down and began to dive inside the bag for his food.

"So… what did kakashi sensei teach you today?" asked naruto

"This new jutsu called chidori, it can cut through anything apparently, jounin level as well" explained sasuke suddenly smiling with enthusiasm "what did that jiraiya person teach you?"

"How to pick up girls" naruto whispered.

"Pardon?" asked sasuke as he was about to uncover the lid on some soup.

"Nothing, tomorrow he is going to teach me how to walk on water" said naruto joyfully

"Naruto, academy students learn how to do that" said sasuke

"No they don't" said naruto quickly

"Yes they do and I thought he was a powerful legendary ninja, he seems to me, to be picking up girls instead of seriously training you" said sasuke making naruto feel embarrassed and depressed.

The next day naruto was found walking gloomily down to the hot springs to meet jiraiya, sasuke had already left to train with kakashi, leaving naruto alone to make breakfast and lock up. Naruto was used to this though, once sasuke had it in his mind to master a new jutsu, or improve on his strength he would not be stopped, it was something they both had in common, the determination to be better, to become stronger. Naruto stopped when he came to the hot springs, jiraiya was not there.

"That's it no more Mr nice guy" naruto hissed.

He found jiraiya chatting with some girls at a outpost drinking place a few minutes later, he stood for a while glazing at jiraiya laughing uncontrollably with the young females and then his patience finally snapped, smiling to himself he started running over to jiraiya.

"Daddy please mummy wants you to come home, please stop kissing other girls it's making her so sad!" Naruto cried theatrically pretending to be jiraiya's son.

"What! What are you doing naruto?" cried jiraiya.

"You are married? You should be ashamed of yourself you bastard!" snapped one of the girls that jiraiya had been talking to.

"So ashamed" replied the second girl and both girls walked away leaving jiraiya alone.

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT!" roared jiraiya looking at naruto.

"Because I want to start my training so I can become hokage and so I can defeat neji in the chuunin exams!" said naruto

"No you disrupted my research! For heaven's sake! I'm trying to find inspiration for a new character I'm trying to involve in my new chapter!" explained jiraiya

"What happened to your date?" asked naruto

"I asked her if she would be a model for my books and she poured water over my head!" cried jiraiya.

"Okay then, listen I'm going to show you my sexy technique and you can use it for inspiration" said naruto

"What? Sexy jutsu" said jiraiya confused.

"Just watch, sexy jutsu!" naruto said and immediately there appeared a beautiful naked girl with long blonde hair with a nice curvy body and lovely blue eyes.

"KID THIS IS AMAZING HOLD STILL!" cried jiraiya and took out a notepad and began a quick sketch of naruto, girl naruto stood still as jiraiya copied his/her image and finally he put his notebook away.

Naruto dropped the jutsu.

"Now will you teach me?" naruto asked

"Sure, sure, I have my character now so I have nothing left to do, let's find somewhere to start training" jiraiya said scratching his chin nervously.

They ended up by a waterfall near a Jacuzzi where a few bikini clad girls were playing in the water.

"This better not distract you from your responsibilities, other wise you'll loose your eye candy in 5 seconds!" snapped naruto

"Don't worry it will not, now I'm going to demonstrate the walking on water technique and you are going to practice doing it, until the jutsu is as habitual as walking" jiraiya said "Kakashi told me you were a determined little kid so this should not be difficult to learn".

Jiraiya held his fingers together in a simple hand seal that is used to focus his chakra and he began to walk on the water into the middle of the small river.

"Cool! This is some technique, hurry up and let me try!" cried naruto and he began stripping fast. Jiraiya nodded in acceptance and came back onto dry land. Naruto then closed his eyes and tried to focus his chakra to the soles of his feet, feeling satisfied with the buzzing sensation he could feel going through his body to his feet, he stepped confidently onto the water. He began walking a few paces when he went splashing underwater.

"AGHHHH! IT'S FREEZING!" he screamed as he surfaced seconds later. He clambered back onto land and looked at the still water before him "How come it didn't work?"

"It's okay, maybe it's a little nerves, try again, keep calm" jiraiya said calmly, naruto focussed his chakra again and went sprinting towards the water. Again the jutsu began to work and then after a few minutes he went underwater again.

After a couple of times of nearly drowning himself, jiraiya whistled to get his attention.

"Come over here naruto" he ordered.

"What is it now? I can do this" hissed naruto

"Yes and that is why you keep drowning" jiraiya said sarcastically and again he beckoned naruto to come forward.

"What is it – OI GET OFF YOU DIRTY OLD PERV!" naruto began then leapt back in disgust as jiraiya made to touch his tummy.

"No kid it's okay, I just want to see that mark on your stomach!" jiraiya cried, naruto was in a fighting stance ready to defend himself, but he settled and let jiraiya look at his mark.

Jiraiya studied it for a while, then he made some hand seals and his fingers ignited with blue flames, he then thrust his fingers into naruto's stomach hard, literally winding the young boy. Naruto yelped in surprise and pain and landed on the ground, he began coughing wildly for a few minutes and spluttered

"What-what was that for you idiot!" snarled naruto as he rubbed his tummy

"Look down" jiraiya said, naruto looked at his tummy and saw that the weird symbol that had been there had vanished.

"Cool, thanks pervy sage, I thought it would never go, but why did you do it?" said naruto

"Do the walking on water technique again, you should have full control again" Jiraiya said.

Naruto stepped gingerly onto the water's surface once more and his eyes widened in relief and happiness as he was able to jump, hop and run on top of the water with apparent ease.

"Just as I thought" jiraiya thought to himself and he stood up and shouted "Naruto!"

Naruto stopped jumping and looked at jiraiya.

"It's time to start some serious training" he said

"Serious, how serious, are you going to teach me the spiralling ball technique!" cried naruto excitedly still dancing on the water.

"That and many more killer techniques" Jiraiya said

"Cool, I can't wait to show sasuke how much I've learnt, that will teach him for making fun of the pervy sage" thought naruto to himself and he sprinted towards the shore ready to start his official training with jiraiya.

"Listen naruto, I don't think you realise it, but you possess two kinds of chakra inside you" jiraiya began

"The nine tails and my own right" Naruto interrupted "Or as I call it, my red and blue chakra".

"You-you know about the nine tails?" asked jiraiya

"Of course, whenever I'm angry or in trouble I always feel funny and red chakra appears instead of the normal blue one" explained naruto "But the red one I can't control very well, last time I blacked out and could not remember what had happened".

"I see, this kid is not as dumb as I first thought" jiraiya thought to himself, he stood up "Okay that's enough training for today"

"What! but you said!" began naruto

"It's best to begin a little at a time" Jiraiya said "Pushing yourself to the extreme is never a good thing to do".

Naruto remembered what kakashi had said about lee and nodded in understanding.

"So until tomorrow kid unless you want to come to the hot springs with me" said jiraiya

"Sure" naruto said smiling.

They ended up soaking in the male hot springs, naruto felt truly relaxed and comfortable around jiraiya, he felt as if he knew the old man probably from a past life, it was a strange feeling but he felt truly happy to have a teacher like him.

He said goodbye to jiraiya a few hours later and went back to his apartment, as he was about to slide his key into his apartment door, however, sasuke came out carrying some boxes and scrolls.

"What! What are you doing sasuke? Where are you going" asked naruto confused.

"For the remainder of the chuunin exams, I'm moving back to the old uchiha residence" sasuke replied

"Oh okay, did kakashi sensei tell you to?" asked naruto

"Yes and I need some space to concentrate on my training" sasuke said, he put his boxes down and turned to look at naruto, he hugged him tightly and affectionately "Until we meet again in the second round, you may not see me as often".

"Make sure you pop back at least once sasuke, I have some jutsu I want to show you" naruto said desperately

"What? walking on water? Kakashi has already taught me that" asked sasuke teasingly

"No a super killer technique, pervy sage thinks it may get me through the chuunin exams" Naruto said

Sasuke's eyes narrowed "Okay I think I will come back then, but only once a week"

"Cool mate" Naruto said and watched as sasuke gave him a peace sign and headed off in the direction of the old uchiha residence.

Now naruto knew it was time to get serious. He had to be strong enough in case he had to fight sasuke in a match so he needed to learn some jutsu and to concentrate on his training. Sasuke was also thinking the same thing as he headed off into the night.

THE END


	20. Chapter 20: Naruto begins his training

Chapter 20: Naruto's training begins

The days passed and naruto went everyday to train with jiraiya, jiraiya taught him how to walk on water until he could do it naturally, eventually naruto got tired of doing the same old things and finally snapped one day.

Jiraiya, was as usual watching the girls that were splashing around in the water nearby; he was using binoculars to spy on them through the bushes that hid them from view.

"OI PERVY SAGE!" screamed naruto making jiraiya jump high in the air in fear.

"Naruto! Keep it down" hissed jiraiya but he cursed inwardly when he saw that the girls had disappeared; he assumed they had gone back to the village.

"Are you going to tell me about this red and blue chakra in more detail?" asked naruto "I want to know what the hell is going on"

"As I told you before, you have two types of chakra, the blue chakra that we all, all ninjas, possess, and a special red chakra that belongs to the nine tailed fox" explained jiraiya turning to face naruto and changing his lustful expression to the one of a serious teacher.

"The nine tailed fox, is that who is giving me this red chakra?" asked naruto slowly.

"Exactly" replied jiraiya.

"I don't want it!" snapped naruto suddenly more serious.

"What? What are you talking about? The nine tailed fox's power is incredibly powerful, it's the reason why you can heal so quickly, it may have already saved your life a million times" said jiraiya panicking slightly.

"Save my life, this fox, this power, it's a curse to me, not a gift!" snapped naruto "I want to become hokage using my own skills and my own jutsus, without that bastard fox's help!"

"Of course you have other strengths and weaknesses, you have self determination greater than even the fourth hokage" said jiraiya

"Of course I don't expect you to rely fully on the nine tailed fox's' chakra, because it can have dire consequences if you use too much of it, but think of it as a trump card, to only be used in a moment of great need"

"Like sasuke's sharingan and kakashi's chidori?" asked naruto his eyes brightening.

"Exactly" jiraiya said shaking his head firmly.

"Okay then, what do I have to do to release it then?" asked naruto a little reluctantly.

"When you start to use your red chakra there is a lot more jutsu you can unlock; for example the summoning jutsu" jiraiya explained standing up and looking around. He spotted a small green frog looking at them from a rock in the water "There we go, we'll try to summon a frog, the summoning jutsu is a teleportation jutsu in which you sign a contract in blood with all kinds of living creatures and then summon them whenever you like with ninjutsu"

"Oh wow, that sounds so cool, why do I have to summon a stupid frog? Can't I summon a lion?" asked naruto.

"Of course you can't summon a lion, that particular creature is not your animal affinity, I suspect your summoning affinity is water based creatures" Jiraiya said "Frogs are classed as water based, before we begin you will need to use up all your usual chakra so just your red chakra remains"

"Alright, time to get to business!" Naruto cried and stepped away from jiraiya and made a hand seal, he saw jiraiya's confused expression and added "Don't worry pervy sage, this will be done nice and quickly"

Naruto created four shadow clones which appeared beside him then hundreds appeared moments later.

"I see you can do the shadow clone jutsu, very impressive" Jiraiya remarked.

Naruto stood before his shadow clones and cried "Listen up you loosers, you guys start fighting, whoever is the last one standing gets to fight me and that clone will be the champion of all clones, the me of all mes".

The clones cried "Yeah" all together and the tournament began. Naruto charged into the fray and the battle began.

"How very cleaver" jiraiya thought to himself "Considering I thought he was a simpleton, he was able to come up with a great plan all by himself"

Naruto went in punching, kicking and dodging the million of clone punches being aimed at him, in less than 5 minutes the hundreds of clones had been reduced to about 20, most had run into each other and disappeared in a puff of smoke and clones had accidentally hit their own on accident. Finally after what seemed like an hour to a sleepy jiraiya the real naruto was the one that was left standing and about three other clones. Naruto felt exhausted, he had cuts and bruises all over his body but he was determined not to stop, he simply had to walk up to the remaining clones and head-butt one and dodged the other two so that they bumped into each other. After that naruto was totally exhausted, he placed his hands on his knees to steady himself.

"Well done" Jiraiya said clapping as he walked over to naruto.

"Just as I thought, I am the strongest me" whispered naruto, laughing slightly before collapsing onto the ground.

"It looks like you've used up all of your chakra, now I can teach you the summoning technique" Jiraiya said

"YES YES YES!" cried naruto standing up to look excitably at jiraiya.

" Okay first I'm going to show you how it is done" Jiraiya said "Now watch very carefully" he bit his finger so hard to draw blood and swiped the blood across his hand, jiraiya then made some hand seals, placed one hand, palm down, flat on the ground and cried "Summoning jutsu!"

Suddenly there was a great burst of smoke, when it had cleared naruto could see jiraiya standing on a great big toad.

"Wow that is totally awesome" naruto gasped, he was then taken aback because the giant toad had a scroll protruding from his mouth, it seemed to be trying to give the scroll to naruto, naruto took it and looked at it in confusion.

"Come on then, open it up, it's a contract with the summoning toads that was handed down to me by them, just write your name in your own blood upon an empty section of the scroll and then drab each finger on your hand at the bottom of your name" explained jiraiya.

Naruto opened the scroll, he immediately saw the fourth hokage's name and next to it a blank column, he bit his thumb to draw blood and began writing his full name on the scroll, then he did what jiraiya had told him to do and wrote a signature by placing each fingertips that had his blood on it at the bottom of his name.

"Now all you have to do is find a place where you want to summon the creature, make the correct hand seals using the hand in which you made the contract, the hand seals are ino, e, tori, soro, isuchi" Jiraiya explained.

Naruto bit his thumb and made the correct hand seals, slowly and carefully, then he placed his right hand on the ground and cried "Ninja art: Summoning jutsu!" Beneath his hand there appeared a weird cryptic design on the ground, there was a burst of chakra and smoke and then appeared a small tadpole where there should have been a frog. Naruto felt immediately embarrassed and angry at himself, the giant toad that jiraiya had summoned mirrored jiraiya's expression of disappointment too.

"Don't worry kid, practice makes perfect after all" Jiraiya said

Naruto just stood staring unbelievably and comically at the little tadpole he had made.

Naruto trained to master the summoning jutsu everyday; sometimes jiraiya accompanied him or was dragged by naruto to the river to practice. Naruto was determined to master this technique before the end of the week. But each time he summoned the supposed frog, it only came out as a tadpole.

"Having any luck?" jiraiya would ask after every tenth try and naruto would get even more frustrated at his lack of progress.

Finally after the 20th try naruto thought he was getting something because he was able to summon a tadpole with legs. When he showed jiraiya, the old man hardly commented and turned back around to spy on the half naked girls in the river again. Naruto sighed in disappointment.

Jiraiya went off to do some "research" a few hours later leaving naruto by the river to practice his summoning. Feeling downtrodden naruto stopped and began to make his way back to konoha, he had been training for three days non stop, and he needed some ramen.

"Oi Naruto!" cried a voice, naruto looked up, he was entering the village and he saw sasuke standing by the entrance into konoha village, probably waiting for him.

"Sasuke! What's up mate?" asked naruto running up to his brother-from-another-mother.

"I'm cool, kakashi has been summoned to the hokage's office, it seems quite important" sasuke explained "What are you doing?"

"Just training, the pervy sage is getting me to do the summoning jutsu" said naruto cheerfully.

"The summoning jutsu, what good is that technique?" asked sasuke

"You can summon creatures to come to your aid in battle, they can also help to transport you to different places and so on!" said naruto persuasively.

"Can you show me how to do that?" asked sasuke.

"I'm sorry sasuke, I think you need a lot of chakra to do it" said naruto rubbing his hair nervously.

"This mark is helping me to master even advanced jounin techniques, I'm sure I can summon creatures" said sasuke, rather to himself then naruto "Can you at least show me a demonstration of how to do it?"

"I haven't really mastered it sasuke, but let's talk about it over ramen" said naruto

"Again with ramen? Don't you eat anything else?" asked sasuke a little frustrated "We're going to the bbq place".

"No ramen!" snapped naruto.

"Bbq!" hissed sasuke, they faced each other off, eyes narrowed in frustration.

In the end they ended up at ichiraku's. Sasuke gloomily swirled his noodles around with the chopsticks he had been given, not at all consuming any of the broth, whilst naruto slurped it up eagerly and asked for seconds.

"So how is it done?" asked sasuke when naruto picked up a third bowl ready to down another bowl of ramen.

"Well, don't tell pervy sage that I told you about it, first of all, you need to find out what your animal affinity is" mumbled naruto through mouthfuls of noodles.

"Animal affinity" Sasuke said "Is that like chakra nature? My father told me about chakra nature, but not animal affinity".

"No it's animal affinity, I've got it! What about wind? Uchiha comes from the word for fan, so fans release wind don't they?, your animal affinity is wind type creatures, find a wind creature you want to summon, get your hand on a summoning contract scroll, find a wind creature and focus on summoning that creature" explained naruto "The hand seals are ino, e, soro, itsuchi".

"I've got it, I like hawks, I think I'll search for a hawk in the nearby forests, thanks naruto" sasuke said his eyes ablaze with excitement.

They bade each other farewell and naruto went to resume his training. He found jiraiya fast asleep underneath a tree and, sighing, he began to start again with his training.

"Be careful of the companions you keep naruto" said a voice, naruto turned around and saw jiraiya wake awake underneath the tree.

"What do you mean?" asked naruto nervously

"I heard you telling the uchiha about the summoning technique" said jiraiya

"I'm sorry pervy sage, I won't tell him anymore of the techniques we do here, but sasuke can be trusted believe it" naruto said but he did not see the sad look on jiraiya's face.

"Promise me you won't tell him anymore, otherwise I'll stop training you right here, right now" pressed jiraiya.

"I promise, I promise, jeez pervy sage!" cried naruto and began to make some hand seals hoping to at least have a tadpole with four legs this time instead of none.

Meanwhile in the forests that surrounded konoha sasuke spotted a brown messenger bird, he took a scroll that was strapped to his back off and began to print his name in the section of the scroll where his family's ninja cats had told him to do. He tried to summon the hawk and in a puff of smoke, a giant brown hawk appeared with sharp talons, wings the size of a aeroplane and a sharp beak.

"Who has summoned me?" asked the hawk.

"It was i, sasuke uchiha" replied sasuke

"Uchiha" replied the hawk "Then you must be my new master?"

"Yes, what is your name?" asked sasuke

"Riku" the hawk replied and ruffled its feathers.

"Riku" replied sasuke and he smiled in amazement at the technique he was able to perform so fast and so well, he touched his curse mark and was relieved that it had been given to him. He only hoped that naruto had mastered this technique as well and would be able to measure up to him in strength because he knew that he might need naruto's powers as well, if he was to defeat that man.

THE END


	21. Chapter 21: Hello Gamabunta

Chapter 21: Hello Gamabunta 

"I don't believe this" Naruto said aghast when he saw his best friend sasuke on top of a giant hawk.

"His name is riku, he is the chief of all the hawks, I identified my animal affinity which is the hawk, hawks are sharp, quick and they never stop until they catch their prey" sasuke explained still atop of riku "I will be like him, I won't stop until I've killed my brother either".

Naruto tried to smile instead of succumbing to his instinctive emotion of jealousy that he usually felt whenever sasuke achieved something he could not master.

"Well done sasuke! I'm really proud of you" shouted naruto.

"Naruto" said sasuke suddenly stern.

"What-what is it sasuke?" asked naruto suddenly taken aback at his friend's sudden attitude change.

"It has been 3 weeks now since jiraiya started teaching you the summoning technique, haven't you mastered it yet?" asked sasuke.

Naruto thought back to the previous afternoon when he was only about to summon a tadpole, but he was damned if he was going to tell sasuke that.

"I've summoned something, I think I'm nearly there" naruto said rubbing his head.

"The only advice I can give you is that you need to focus and believe in yourself" sasuke said firmly.

"I always do, don't i?" asked naruto "You don't need to tell me that baka!"

"Anyway I'm off, I'm going to practice what I've learnt so far" sasuke explained.

"Wait!" cried naruto suddenly. Sasuke stopped and looked at naruto asking him non verbally to continue.

"Where did you get the summoning scroll?" asked naruto.

"From the uchiha clan's secret weaponry base" explained sasuke

"Cool" replied naruto.

* * *

><p>"Naruto let's take a break today from training" jiraiya said.<p>

"Alright" said naruto a little taken aback, usually the pervy sage would let him continue to train.

"Is there something you would like to eat naruto?" asked jiraiya.

"Eat, I need to get back to training pervy sage believe it!" cried naruto "I don't have time for eating".

"But its lunchtime" interrupted jiraiya innocuously.

"I know but-!" began naruto.

"Come on I'm treating you for heaven's sake" snapped jiraiya.

"Oh okay then, I want to go for some ramen" naruto replied.

They ended up eating at ichiraku's. Naruto ordered a bowl of miso ramen and began gulping down the bowl full of broth.

"Naruto, are you very close to sasuke then? Do you not have any other friends" asked jiraiya.

"Of course i have other friends, I have iruka sensei, konohamaru and sakura" said naruto in between mouthfuls of ramen.

"Ohhh is sakura your girlfriend?" asked jiraiya idly, naruto immediately started to choke on his ramen.

"NO! Actually its kind of one sided, she likes sasuke more" naruto cried then became depressed and started swirling his chopsticks around in his ramen.

"That's pretty sad, listen, do me a favour, go and tell sakura how you feel about her, you don't have to get cheesy but make her know that you appreciate being on the same team as her, and do the same with sasuke" said jiraiya.

"Why though?" asked naruto "And sasuke doesn't like any kind of sentiment anyway, he'll get awkward".

"That isn't the point, you don't know what the future holds, you could die tomorrow, always tell the people you care for how much they mean to you, even if its just that you admire them, pride is a sin after all" interrupted jiraiya.

"Fine, _then_ can I get back to my training?" asked naruto after a pause.

"Sure" replied jiraiya smiling brightly at naruto.

Naruto (with jiraiya following him) went to see sasuke first. He was currently training on his own in one of the training fields.

"I don't believe your getting me to do this, if sasuke stops speaking to me it will be on your conscience" mumbled naruto.

"Believe me, it's a good thing to do" replied jiraiya.

Naruto slowly and nervously walked over to sasuke who was practising a few taijutsu moves on his own, he stood behind him until sasuke turned around and made to hug the uchiha but naruto mistimed his actions and instead he and the uchiha ended up locking lips.

"NARUTOOOOO!" screamed sasuke " WHAT THE FUCK!" and there was the immediate sound of a fist hitting flesh as sasuke gave his friend a punch in the face.

"I'm sorry sasuke, I came to tell you that I appreciate you very much and you're the bestest friend I've ever had" groaned naruto who was flat on his back on the ground.

Sasuke who was standing over him with his fists clenched paused for a moment before speaking, turned red and screamed.

"I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS NARUTO!"

* * *

><p>"Well I guess that went err well" stuttered jiraiya when naruto made his way gingerly back to his teacher, he had a gigantic bruise on his face, and he was giving jiraiya evil eyes.<p>

"This better be worth it whatever your up to" whispered naruto as he silently passed jiraiya making his way to see sakura next.

The pink haired girl did not find naruto's sentimental comment anyway more appropriate.

"Naruto I really don't have time for talking about your feelings" she began

"Where are you going sakura?" asked naruto curiously.

"To see lee-san, in case you guys have forgotten, he saved our lives in the forest of death and plus I've heard he's still depressed after, you know..." explained sakura holding up a bag of sweets and a card.

"Oh ok, tell bushy brow that I'll see him tomorrow okay" replied naruto.

"Okayy… if that's all then, goodbye naruto and thanks for telling me what you said" sakura said and she turned her back on naruto and made her way to the hospital.

"Okay I've told everyone I'm close to that I love them, what is this all about?" asked naruto.

"Let's take a walk" said jiraiya.

They ended up in the forests outside of konoha, it was very quiet and there were few people around. As they went deeper into the forest and the path became darker naruto got a bit suspicious.

"Pervy sage whats-!" began naruto but he felt a firm hand to his head and the next thing he knew he had been knocked out. In the trees above them, sasuke had seen what had happened. His sharingan was ablaze in anger and he followed jiraiya as he carried naruto over his shoulder away from prying eyes.

* * *

><p>Naruto, slowly opened his eyes and immediately felt light headed, he tried to sit upright and saw the pervy sage standing in front of him with a look of pity and impatience in his eyes.<p>

"Pervy sage, what-what is going on?" asked naruto completely panick stricken, his memory was returning and he suddenly felt awkward around the old man in front of him.

"Naruto, it has been three weeks and still you have not learnt the technique, i think that you are clearly not serious about pushing yourself, so now you have no choice but to push yourself" said jiraiya, he reached out and placed his hand on naruto's chest, he firmly pushed him and naruto felt his feet leave the ground. His heart shot up into his throat, he was falling, falling quite fast down a deep cliff into a dark abyss.

"PERVY SAGE!" screamed naruto "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!"

"I'm sorry kid, this is the only way to release the nine tailed fox's power" shouted jiraiya.

Naruto's heart started beating very fast, sweat was pouring from his forehead, he went pale, he felt betrayed and angry and he started to believe that this was it, he was going to meet his death here, but suddenly he saw sasuke's face, saw his disappointment and sneering face and heard his last words "Just focus naruto" and he bit his finger.

He continued to free fall, naruto flipped over and began to make the hand seals for the summoning technique in the air, he closed his eyes, tried to forget about the daunting terror of dying and tried to concentrate on the technique. But something very unusual happened at that very moment.

* * *

><p>It was like he was in some kind of waking dream. He was in some kind of tunnel, everything was fluorescent green, naruto could hear his own breathing and the continual dripping of water from a broken pipe, everywhere was silent except for a voice that was calling his name<p>

"Naruto" said the deep growling voice "Naruto".

Naruto's body started to walk on his own accord towards the voice to the end of the (what he thought) was a never ending tunnel, he had walked for about 5 minutes and saw a white light that got bigger and bigger until he became blindingly bright, naruto closed his eyes and when the light became less bright he opened them and saw.

He was in a huge room where he was up to his knees in water; in front of him were big iron gates with a huge lock and seal on the front. Inside the prison it was pitch black but some premonition told naruto that he was not alone, and he was right. Out of the abyss of darkness came a pair of blood red eyes, followed by the nose, whiskers and red colour of a fox demon.

"Naruto" the fox growled.

"Are you the nine tailed fox?" asked naruto.

"Yes I am, come closer please" replied the fox, naruto naively stepped closer and closer to the gate but leapt back in fear when the fox's giant claws tried to claw him through the bars.

"What do you think you're doing here? Remove the seal this instant!" growled the fox.

Naruto, who was on the ground in fear looked up and saw the sealing tag on the front of the giant gate, Naruto composed himself and stood back up, he looked the nine tail's directly and confidently in the eyes and cried;

"Listen here you fox bastard, if I die, you die, you are in MY body, it's not the other way around, so unless you want to stay alive long enough to scratch your own backside I want to make a life and death deal with you!"

"You speak, such big words, but I understand that we are in some kind of a situation, what do you want? Make it quick, i can't stand the sight of looking at you and not being able to tear you apart!"

"50% of your chakra as payment for being inside me, otherwise I die today and your going with me" naruto replied.

"Are you sure that you want to end your life so quickly?" roared the nine tails his red eyes shining red in anger.

"I am not afraid of dying" said naruto.

There was a pause as the nine tails looked at the determination of the boy in front of him and his willingness to throw his life away without a care in the world.

"Hahaha, the fourth hokage made a mistake putting me inside a kid like you, you are reckless and naïve, but I do not want to die because of his mistakes, alright, I will help you out this one time, but this is the last time!" the nine tails replied. Suddenly the water beneath naruto's feet became tentacle-like and wrapped itself around the young boy. Naruto's eyes widened in fear, as he was helpless against it. He blacked out and returned, as quickly as lightening back to the real world.

Naruto knew that his moment had come, he had to do the technique now or face death, he created the hand seals again and spread his hands out in front of him, there was a burst of chakra that went up and enveloped his entire body. When the cloud of smoke settled he thought, he had not done it, and his heart raced in fear, but suddenly it quickened with excitement when he saw a looming dark figure beneath him. Suddenly he fell on top of something big. He realised that he was sitting on top of something broad and hard; he saw a gigantic inhuman head, webbed fingers and toes reaching out for the sides of the cliff to halt their descent and knew at once he had succeeded in summoning a toad, but not just some tiny toad but a massive one.

"Wow" naruto could only whisper.

"Jiraiyaaaaaaaaa what is the meaning of this!" snapped the giant toad.

"Yo toady, come on then, up!" laughed naruto slapping the toad on the head.

"Who the fuck are you?" asked the toad and he immediately leapt into the air. Naruto nearly fell off him but was able to hold on tightly until they had reached the top of the cliff. The toad landed next to jiraiya and naruto came slamming face down on top of the toad's backside.

"Jiraiya who is this brat?" roared the toad.

"Master Gamabunta, it's nice to see you again, this is naruto and he was the one who summoned you" said jiraiya calmly to the giant toad as if he had seen him many times.

"I don't believe it" gamabunta replied "No normal ninja can summon me from my kingdom; you know that, stop playing games with me jiraiya".

"Well believe it chief toad, because I did and now I'm your master!" cried naruto pointing at gamabunta confidently.

"Nonsense, nobody orders me around you hear me, I am the great chief toad of toad mountain, the only other person I answer to is the fourth hokage, who has passed, God rest his soul" growled gamabunta offended.

"Well I'm going to be the next hokage" replied naruto.

Gamabunta roared with laughter at naruto's comment. Naruto looked at jiraiya for help but jiraiya did not intervene.

"Oi stop laughing at me you big wet toad, I WILL be hokage and one day you'll be calling me lord hokage!"

"Haha, yeah right, ok kid, let's pretend that you did summon me, if you want me to follow you, you'll have to pass a special test I have" gamabunta replied.

"What is it? Come on, come on, I'm prepared to do anything!" asked naruto.

"You have balls I must admit that, I want to see if you can stay on my back for a certain amount of time, if you can, then I'll be happy to be serving you" said gamabunta.

"Bring it on!" cried naruto and leapt onto gamabunta's back, he struggled to get on at first, gamabunta smiled knowingly at jiraiya believing the grey haired man to be pulling his leg but jiraiya did not smile back.

"Make sure you hold on tight, many ninja have tried but none have PASSED!" roared gamabunta and he leapt like a rocket into the air. Naruto managed to grab hold of the shirt he was wearing just in time, the air whipped through naruto's blonde curls, his eyes swam with tears but naruto held on tightly.

Gamabunta came back down onto the ground with a loud bang creating a huge crater underneath him but still naruto managed to survive the encounter.

"Huh, you've got some nerve kid, let's see if you can handle this!" shouted gamabunta and he began leaping around wildly, up and down, from side to side and he leapt in the air three times. Naruto, even though he was a little battered and his arms were going numb because he was holding on so tight still was holding on.

"I'm going to be hokage, I will not loose" whispered naruto "Is that all you've got chief toad?"

Gamabunta was starting to sweat but the toad was not about to give up.

"Here we go again" gamabunta said and he began to leap up and down again. Jiraiya and discreetly sasuke looked on, sasuke was mentally begging naruto to hold on for dere life. He had been very amazed when he had seen naruto summon the massive toad, he felt jealous at the size and what looked like the sheer power emanating from the creature compared to the summon he had but at the same time he was pleased that naruto seemed to be progressing with his training. In the end they both needed each other to probably defeat itachi.

* * *

><p>It was a couple of hours (sunset really) until gamabunta finally came to a standstill, his short legs were shaking and he was sweating profusely and was naruto. But naruto had survived the challenge; naruto leapt off the giant toad and looked up to hear his decision.<p>

"Very well kid, jiraiya, I must say you've trained him well" gasped gamabunta.

"I never trained him, naruto has incredible determination and lots of willpower, he draws his strength from that, nothing more" jiraiya explained.

"And this time I didn't need the nine tails either!" said naruto to his teacher.

"The nine tails, jiraiya, is this that kid?" asked gamabunta.

"It sure is, his full name is naruto uzumaki and he aspires to become the next hokage and I believe he can do it" explained jiraiya.

"Well I don't care, at this moment in time I need to be going back home" said gamabunta completely dazed.

"That's right, I win, I'm the best, yeah yeah yeah I've learnt the summoning technique!" cried naruto jumping up and down.

"Jeez he can still find the energy to celebrate? Oi cut it out kid you're making me look like a chum!" snapped gamabunta.

"Wait for it" jiraiya whispered and all of them heard a thud and saw naruto totally collapsed on the ground, he wouldn't be waking up for a good while.

"Gamabunta?" asked jiraiya.

"Oh very well" said gamabunta grudgingly.

The nurses on one of the wards of the konoha hospital were attending to their patients when they heard a crash from outside the hospital. They quickly stopped when they were doing and rushed out to find naruto uzumaki, fast asleep, exhausted and smiling widely at the front of the hospital. Beside him was the massive toad like footprint beside him.

Looking on from a nearby building was sasuke whilst jiraiya looked on from another building further away from sasuke.

"Naruto uzumaki you are something" he thought to himself.

Sasuke leapt down off the building he was on and started to walk back to his apartment, he couldn't help but smile at naruto's strength and determination to succeed; he knew that he had to be the same if he wanted to achieve his revenge. The chuunin exams were approaching faster and faster and he knew that he would probably be facing the blonde; he needed to up his training.


	22. Chapter 22: The other demon

Chapter 22: The other demon 

Naruto woke up inside what looked like a hospital room, everywhere was white, plus there was the beeping of what sounded like a heart monitor, naruto had been in here too many times, enough times to hate being in one, he looked around, his eyes trying to adjust to the bright lights and he saw, surprisingly, shikamaru nara sitting next to his bed playing what looked like a game of shogi by himself.

"Huh what is going on?" asked naruto dazedly.

"You've been out for quite a while, three days straight actually…." replied shikamaru, he paused and added "You're in the hospital by the way"

"Did you just say that I've been here for three days?" cried naruto, there was a pause when shikamaru nodded and suddenly naruto leapt out of his bed in a panic "Shikamaru have I missed the chuunin exams tell me now now!"

"No, no, its okay naruto, it's tomorrow!" cried shikamaru quite shaken.

"TOMORROW!" screamed naruto and grabbed ahold of shikamaru's shirt "WHY DIDN'T ANYONE WAKE ME UP, MY FUTURE IS AT STAKE HERE!"

"i-I-I" babbled shikamaru helplessly.

"Where's my bloody pants! I need to get out of here ASAP!" said naruto and leapt off his bed and started to look everywhere for his missing clothes.

"I'm telling you, he is so not the hero of this story" thought shikamaru as he watched naruto tossing about sheets and pillows to find his missing items "What a troublesome guy"

"Naruto!" cried shikamaru sternly interrupting the racket of noise naruto was currently making "Listen, quiet down, and listen to me, your working yourself up over nothing, this last day before the exam is a time to relax and to get your head together, no wonder you've ended up in hospital, you're overdoing things as usual!".

Suddenly the silence that followed was interrupted by a low guttural sound coming from naruto's stomach.

"I'm sorry shikamaru, I'm a little, you know" said naruto looking embarrassed.

"It's a good thing I am such a forward thinker isn't it?" asked shikamaru and he reached down and procured something from inside a plastic bag. He produced a basket of fruit and placed it on top of naruto's hospital bed so he could see it and he added "I went through the trouble of getting this for Chouji then the doctors told me he couldn't have it, apparently he has bad indigestion".

"HAHA! I've so got to see this, Chouji not being able to eat, let's go and try and tempt him!" laughed naruto and leapt out of his hospital bed.

"Naruto, please don't, he'll go angry" said shikamaru.

"Well let's just give him some company, I'm bored anyway" said naruto ignoring the slightly offended expression on shikamaru's face.

"So much for me trying to give you a bit of company" said shikamaru gloomily.

"By the way shikamaru, did sasuke come and visit me while I was out cold?" asked naruto stopping suddenly by the door.

"What? – he came once and asked if you had died, when I told him no he didn't come back" explained shikamaru. Naruto's shoulder drooped in sadness but he soon returned back to his chirpy attitude and cried.

"I expected as much, that bastard, come on let's get going".

"We were already doing that" whispered shikamaru.

Naruto and shikamaru snuck out of the room naruto was residing in and silently made their way to chouji's room. On his way towards the big boned boy's room however, naruto stopped in his tracks.

"What's up?" asked shikamaru impatiently.

"The hospital seems quite quiet doesn't it, there's an aura, I can't describe it exactly" began naruto.

There was a bit of a silence then shikamaru said "Let's get going, I don't have all day".

"Okay" said naruto carefully; he took one more look around the dark corridor then followed shikamaru. He did not notice that a figure had appeared like a ghost at the end of the corridor just when he had turned his back.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile sakura had arrived at the hospital just as naruto had left his room; she had stopped to put some flowers beside lee's bedside table then she left. She stopped to think outside of the bushy eyebrow boy's room about who next to visit.<p>

"Naruto" she whispered and headed in the direction of her teammate's room. Little did she know that the same dark figure was now following her. Instead of following her down the corridor however the figure turned to the room where lee resided in. The figure reached out a hand and turned the door knob and entered.

That was the moment when sakura discovered she had left something behind in lee's room, she made her way quickly back to lee's room not knowing that somebody was already inside the room she had just vacated. She opened the door into lee's room, saw the figure standing over lee's bed and screamed, the figure, who had short red hair, mascara black eyes and a tattoo on the right side of his forehead turned and immediately sand engulfed the room.

"HELPPPP!" screamed sakura, the sand slowly was creeping towards her, she tried running away but tripped, she screamed again.

"WHAT THE HELL!" roared naruto who arrived just in time, he sent a clone of himself to stand as a shield while he grabbed sakura and dodged the incoming wave of sand that threatened to maybe end her life at that moment. Shikamaru entered the room just in time behind him. While gaara was distracted, shikamaru managed to use his special technique, shadow possession jutsu to immobilise gaara. Gaara did not seemed at all fazed by the technique but did not retaliate, instead he continued to look from lee, to naruto and then to shikamaru's angry face.

"Sakura quick run and get some help!" cried shikamaru, sakura looked at the situation, nodded and sprinted out of the room.

When naruto saw that gaara was immobilized he bravely took a run up and kneed gaara powerfully in the stomach.

"What the hell are you doing in here you desert rat!" cried naruto "How dare you attack sakura-chan and bushy brow, what the hell is your problem?"

"Naruto!" cried shikamaru's voice from behind him.

"What is it?" snapped naruto turning to his comrade.

"I'm currently linked to gaara, whatever you do to him you do to me, get it, you idiot" mumbled shikamaru whilst holding his stomach.

"Oh, sorry shikamaru" said naruto offhandedly.

They turned back to gaara who seemed not to be touched by naruto's attack, he simply continued to stare.

"Come on then garat, tell me what you were trying to pull?" asked naruto looking at gaara.

"My name is gaara of the sand" corrected gaara "Not garat, and I was going to kill him".

"WHAT? Why" asked naruto furiously.

"You've already beaten him in the chuunin exams, you've already ruined his chance to live as a ninja, wasn't that enough for you?" sneered shikamaru.

"No" replied gaara cold heartedly, shocking both naruto and shikamaru where they stood.

"You are so sick, so sick in the head!" roared naruto "You need some doctor to look at you man!"

"You think we're just going to let you kill a fellow comrade?" asked shikamaru "You must be dumber than you look buddy".

"I don't care, i will still kill him and if you get in my way, I'll kill you both too" gaara replied in his nasally voice.

Shikamaru and naruto immediately began to sweat as they glazed into the cold and remorseless eyes of the sand ninja before them.

"They sealed a great demon inside me when I was young, this demon needs blood to survive, so I don't even care how many people I kill as long as it is appeased" explained gaara.

"What do you mean they sealed a demon inside you?" asked shikamaru confused, but naruto's legs turned immediately to jelly when he heard that, then it turned to relief as he was aware that another being, like him, was alive in this world.

"The sand villagers fear me because of this demon inside me, they shun me and always they look at me with those eyes, those eyes, I want to get rid of that memory so I must kill him" explained gaara.

"Don't blame others for the way other people have treated you" snarled shikamaru "Naruto come on, let's take this guy out!"

Naruto did not say anything and shikamaru turned to look at him "Naruto! Snap out of it".

Naruto who looked as though he had been comatosed snapped out his musings and looked straight ahead at gaara.

"Yeah let's, you may have a demon inside you, or so you say, but I have one inside me for real!" snapped naruto.

"Naruto I don't think this guy will take your bluffs to heart" whispered shikamaru thinking that naruto was trying to frighten gaara.

"I don't care, he can show me his worse!" replied naruto back holding his fists ready.

Gaara's eyes narrowed slightly at naruto's last remark in confusion, then it softened "You have a demon inside you, well… that is one thing we have in common, naruto uzumaki".

Shikamaru and naruto just opted to listen to the sand ninja.

"From an early age my upbringing was quite unusual, my father had cast a particular jutsu on me to seal a demon that had been encased in a teapot inside me at my birth, in order to make me into the sand villages' ultimate weapon" said gaara then added "By doing this technique I took the life of the woman who gave birth to me".

"I was born a monster and I will stay a monster forever" said gaara "The demon inside me is called shukaku and it's the living incarnation of a living monk".

"That is one sad jutsu, using it on a baby when it has just been born, its disgusting" shikamaru commented.

Naruto meanwhile had gone silent again, so gaara wasn't making it up, he was the container of a demon like him.

"He-he is just like me, I've found another person like me, someone that has gone through the same childhood I have had, is it true, that there is another person or persons out there like me?" naruto thought to himself "This guy, I wonder how he felt growing up all alone, I almost pity him".

"What an interesting father you have" said shikamaru laughing nervously trying to break the silence that ensued.

"I have no father, my father and I share a bond of hatred, I know nothing about love or family or relationships" snarled gaara "I started to hate him because by the time I reached my sixth birthday he had tried to have me assassinated more times than I can count".

"That is not how a father should treat his own flesh and blood" shikamaru said astonished.

"He no longer thought of me as his flesh and blood, but a monster who had gotten out of control" replied gaara "Those that get too powerful are feared by others, and the demon that had been sealed inside me unbalanced my state of mind, sometimes I killed without meaning to and in the end the demon took over one side of my personality, making me a threat to my home village"

"Eventually I was feared by all the villagers in my village, they saw me as a part of the past they wanted to get rid of, so, in the end, my purpose in this world became unclear to me, what then was left for me? I have tried to search in my mind to discover what this purpose could be" gaara continued.

"Oh fuck… this guy is getting crazier and crazier, oi naruto" whispered shikamaru and looked at naruto who looked shocked, but for a different reason.

Naruto was shocked that another person was repeating the same words and thoughts, he had thought and said for a long time, until he had met sasuke or iruka sensei, he had found someone who had shared his agonising feelings of isolation, detachment and other dark feelings he thought he had pushed to the back of his mind but now returned to him, the words sounded so familiar to him that he was mentally finishing off gaara's words himself.

"I finally came to a decision" said gaara bringing shikamaru and naruto back to reality "My reason for living is to contribute to the killing of all that oppose me; it is the only thing that I was designed to do and which I am good at, I love myself and nobody but myself, and I kill, always to survive".

"This guy is nuts we have to get the hell out of here" thought shikamaru but it was too late. Gaara suddenly released a surge of sand that came out from underneath his feet and shot straight towards a stunned and disbelieving naruto.

"Now… let me feel" roared gaara.

"NARUTO MOVE!" cried shikamaru.

The sand was barely inches from naruto when a stern loud voice cried.

"That's enough!"

Shikamaru, gaara and naruto looked around and saw Gai sensei standing by the door. As soon as gaara saw the familiar face of Gai, the same person who had interfered with his previous fight with lee, he gripped his head at the flashbacks and immediately his sand stopped its journey towards naruto and shikamaru.

"You should be preparing for the next stage of the exam, not wasting your time and chakra here!" snapped Gai walking into the room.

There was a silence, gaara continued to clutch his head, then he looked at shikamaru and naruto, then gai, and skulked from the room, not even uttering a word of apology. Naruto, Gai and shikamaru watched gaara as he left, the sand ninja's shoulders were slumped and he walked as if he had a hump on his back. Suddenly they started to sweat when the young boy turned around and whispered at the doorway.

"Before this exam is over, I vow to kill every last one of you" and then he continued to skulk off.

"Naruto, tell sasuke to beware of that guy, there is something definitely not right there and if God forbid, he does defeat his first opponent in the next round, we'll both be facing him" shikamaru whispered to naruto as gai ordered them to leave lee's room.

"Don't worry I know I must, that is what friends are for" naruto said, a worried and determined look on his face.

"You said he has a demon inside him?" asked sasuke, he was standing outside sasuke's house door.

"Yes he said that he has a demon inside him and it's very powerful, the aura that was coming out of him, it was not normal sasuke" said naruto. Sasuke thought about this for a moment then shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"You're not taking it serious?" asked naruto astonished.

"If I can't defeat him, I'm not ready to defeat itachi am i?" asked sasuke.

"Use everything in your arsenal to defeat him, don't hold back, sasuke, I mean it and don't use that curse mark, he hinders you rather than helps you believe it" naruto said

"How do you know what hinders me?" asked sasuke eyes narrowing.

"I wasn't the only one that was knocked out in the forest of death" naruto stated.

Sasuke looked carefully at naruto for a while and smirked "Naruto your just like sakura, you guys worry like you're a bunch of girls".

"I'm only trying to protect you sasuke, why do you do this to me?" cried naruto.

"Stop protecting me naruto, in the end, I stand alone when it comes to defeating itachi, it isn't your destiny to defeat him!" said sasuke firmly, he added, whilst he habitually placed his hand on his neck, where the curse mark lay "As for this curse mark…"

"It needs to be taken off as soon as possible" naruto said.

"I need it" whispered sasuke.

"What do you mean? You're not thinking of going to orochimaru are you? Did you not hear what he used to do to people he took a fancy to" gasped naruto.

"I'll borrow its powers, this mark helped me, to learn the summoning jutsu and is helping me in my training at the moment" sasuke began.

"That's what it wants you to do, what _he_ wants you to do" babbled naruto "The curse mark relies on making you _rely_ on its powers, and then it draws you in"

Naruto stopped talking when sasuke flicked him on the forehead.

"OUCH! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS DO THAT, YOU BAKA!" roared naruto.

"Because…. You're annoying" smiled sasuke after a dramatic pause.

"I'm going back home!" snapped naruto "Do what you want to do, like you always do you bastard".

"You have permission to forewarn me if you see gaara going mental before my match!" cried sasuke from behind naruto as the blonde began marching away "See you dobe".

* * *

><p>"Aren't you a little concerned that they are so close orochimaru-sama?" asked kabuto, he and orochimaru, who was disguised as a sound jounin, looked from a building that overlooked where sasuke uchiha slept and saw the argument between the uzumaki heir and the uchiha heir.<p>

"That nine tailed brat will not get in the way of the powers of my curse seal, sasuke will come to me for power, he'll realise that I'm the only one that knows the secret about the nine tails' powers and how to release them, at his current level, he cannot do what he desires to do" explained orochimaru.

"Sasuke is an avenger, I've heard that the uzumaki boy and the uchiha boy are as close as brothers, but they are not blood related, in the end sasuke will remember, that he has only one brother and with his death he is at peace"

"So the curse mark will make him realise that?" asked kabuto.

"I will decrease the amount of power I lead to him at this moment in time, in order to feed his lust for more power, then he was definitely realise that he will need to rely on me for him to avenge his clan" said orochimaru.

"I guess the saying, "It's like giving candy to a baby" is reversed in this case, right, orochimaru-sama?" asked kabuto idly.

"It sure is kabuto, it sure is" laughed orochimaru and he vanished from beside his servant.


	23. Chapter 23: Naruto vs Neji

Naruto vs. Neji pt 1

"Anyway what I'm trying to say is, thank you for all your help pervy sage!" declared naruto, they were standing outside the massive arena that held the final stage of the chuunin exams, it was a lovely sunny day and the sunlight rained down on the stadium giving it a golden like appearance. Already naruto was getting worried about the amount of people that may be watching, the jeering and screams of the fans from inside the stadium sounded overwhelming

"Err kid, its_ jiraiya_ and it's no big deal" said jiraiya offhandedly "Remember not be afraid to use the nine tails to help you out, there is a reason why the fourth placed it inside you".

"I'll remember but I'm sure I'll be able to beat him…." Said naruto then added "Err pervy sage, have you seen sasuke?"

"Sasuke, no, mind you I've only just got here to be honest" Jiraiya replied.

"Its okay, I'm sure his already inside" naruto said trying to hide his nerves.

"Good luck kid" said jiraiya, and naruto bade him goodbye and climbed the short steps into the arena. The guards on the gate opened the doors for him, they wished him luck, although naruto knew they thought he didn't stand a chance at winning, and naruto was able to see the arena for the first time in his life. It was massive, in front of him was the VIP area of the arena where the kages sat and then the stadium went around in an oval where all the konoha civilians sat in wait for the upcoming competition. On the arena floor there stood a new chuunin referee, naruto remembered his name to be called genma, and standing in front of genma were the genins who had made it into the final stages of the chuunin exams; Shikamaru, the girl temari, kankurou, gaara, shino and neji. But naruto was shocked to see that sasuke was not there. Naruto decided to quickly stand next to shikamaru and hope to God that his best friend was alright.

"Naruto these fights have become way more troublesome" whispered shikamaru.

"What? Why?" asked naruto taken aback.

"Listen" shikamaru said.

Naruto looked at genma who had halted his speech and was now counting the amount of combatants in front of him.

"It seems like sasuke is still not here… but I'm afraid that is the last of your problems… take a look at this chart which has a list of your fights displayed on it, because of a recent incident which left gaara's opponent, dosu, dead, you are all probably facing a different opponent now" said genma and showed them a piece of paper with a tournament chart, all their names were currently listed at the very bottom, naruto was relieved to see that he was still facing neji but shikamaru groaned out loud from beside naruto.

"Who did you get shikamaru?" asked naruto innocuously.

"You've got to be kidding me! I have to fight a woman" growled shikamaru "This is such an utter drag!"

Naruto looked at the list closely and saw his pineapple haired friend had been selected to fight the sand kunoichi, temari. Naruto tried not to laugh.

"Can all of you that are not in the first match, please wait, in the combatant's area up top please" said genma pointing to the designated area. "Neji hyuuga, Naruto uzumaki, make your way to the centre of the arena to start your match" genma added.

"Wait! What about sasuke? Aren't we going to at least wait for him?" asked naruto. All the genins stopped to listen to genma's answer.

"It is sasuke's fault that he is late, we will give him until the end of your match to show up, if he doesn't, he forfeits the match and gaara is the winner" genma explained.

"Sasuke… you bastard… what are you playing at?" thought naruto to himself, but he knew that this was not the time to worry about sasuke, he knew sasuke. Sasuke would never miss a test which could determine his shinobi future, he would trust in his knowledge of the uchiha heir and concentrate, for the sake of the promise he made to hinata, on this match with neji.

"You all know the rules, I will only stop the fight if one of you is injured badly or if you die" genma explained "Apart from that, this is a everything goes battle, get ready to begin and shake hands".

Neji grinned as he stretched out his hand so that naruto could shake it, but instead of giving neji his hand, naruto thrust one of his fists out in front of him threateningly, neji narrowed his eyes when he noticed that the hand that naruto was extending was the same one in which, he had placed in the puddle of blood from hinata.

"I hope you washed that" neji smirked.

"I hope you know that you're days of bullying others is over!" snapped naruto.

"I'm not a bully, I am merely a realist" replied neji shrugging his shoulders not at all fazed.

"I already told you I'm not about to give up!" cried naruto "So if you think you can defeat me by poking me you have another thing coming"

"You are such a fool, I'm going to say it again, give up, I have nothing against you" said neji calmly.

"Ha! Well I have something against you mate; remember what you did to hinata? I promised to prove to you and her that a dropout can become somebody and I never go back on my words because that is my ninja way, my nindo" naruto snapped back.

Neji smirked "I remember who _you_ are now; you are the kid that wants to become hokage, well, let me tell you something, give up on that dream before you end up disappointing yourself".

"What did you say?" asked naruto furiously.

"I said, give up, open your eyes, hokages are chosen by fate to become who they are" said neji.

"Stop talking crap!" naruto said angrily, the wind blew up the leaves off the arena floor and blew around them suddenly "And let's start his match already!"

"Very well then" Neji replied and placed his hands in a single seal, naruto knew he was gathering chakra straight to his eyes he order to perform his special kekkai genkai technique.

"BYAKUGAN!"

* * *

><p>The noises around them faded as everyone waited to see who would make the first move. Neji stretched himself into the hyuuga stance and waited for naruto to make the first move. Naruto did not, so he began edging closer and closer towards the blonde.<p>

When neji took his third step, however, naruto quickly sent a few kunai straight towards neji's face. Neji caught it between two fingers.

"Is that it?" asked neji tossing the kunai aside and watching as naruto came sprinting towards him.

"I'm not done yet!" screamed naruto and he began throwing punches at neji, neji dodged them effortlessly, blocked a series of wild punches from naruto and swiftly ducked under one of naruto's extended arms and sent a blast of chakra straight into naruto's exposed stomach, naruto, feeling slightly winded, was disorientated, but he was able to see, just in time, when neji was about to thrust two fingers straight at him. He remembered hinata's fight and the information rock lee had given to him about the hyuuga clan's special techniques and he moved a little so that neji's fingers went into his shoulder blades instead of his chest.

Naruto went rolling backwards from the sheer force of the jab and ended up a few paces away from neji. Neji was frozen in the fighting stance he had taken; they both knew that naruto had dodged that last attack.

"I missed…" neji thought.

Naruto felt as if someone had dislocated his shoulder, but as he began to move it, the pain began to subside, he gingerly got to his feet and already he had sweat glistening on his forehead. He knew that this match was going to be no walk in the dark.

He straightened up after a few minutes and held his fists up defensively.

"Do you honestly believe, that that will bring me down?" asked neji laughing mockingly at naruto.

"No, but I know I stand a chance with this!" cried naruto and held up a hand seal so that neji could see it.

"What is that?" thought neji.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" shouted naruto and immediately the arena floor was littered with hundreds of shadow clones.

"Shadow clones… have no effect against me" said neji nonchalantly.

"Well we'll see! GO!" cried naruto and his shadow clones all advanced at his command, neji was able to dodge the attacks that came at him from the shadow clones, he also was able to block, slide underneath and somersault as freely over them, as if the shadow clones weren't there at all, he hardly needed to punch or kick the shadow clones but merely tap them with two fingers to make them disappear.

"This is futile… because I know where you are!" cried neji after a few minutes of dispersing the shadow clones, the shadow clones stood no chance as neji sprinted as quickly as lightening through the middle of them and straight at a naruto who was standing just inches from the group.

"You are… the real one" said neji. Immediately the other clones disappeared only leaving neji and this one last standing naruto standing.

"How-did-you?" asked naruto aghast.

"To be honest I was impressed by your plan, you distributed your chakra between your clones in order to confuse my eyes, but you made a massive error of judgement, you held_ yourself_ back from the group making me come to the conclusion that this was your real self, this match is now over" explained neji. It was at that moment that naruto realised just where neji had placed his deadly fingers. It was straight in his chest.

"Oh no he saw my chakra points" gasped naruto closing his eyes and remembering what rock lee had also told him about the hyuuga clan's byakugan.

(Flashback)

"_The byakugan has the rare ability to see the chakra network that reside inside every shinobi, the chakra network is the veins that carry chakra around a person's body, if one of these points are attacked or blocked, then the user is unable to use their chakra at all, the match is in other words, over" _

(End flashback)

* * *

><p>Blood poured from his mouth onto the ground. The crowd gathered all held their breathe waiting for the referee's decision to end the match. But surprisingly it never came because naruto, who was about to collapse from neji's attack, had vanished from view.<p>

"What?" cried neji "A Shadow clone"

"UP HERE!" roared a voice, neji looked up and saw two narutos coming down on top of him, and one of them was definitely the real naruto.

"I'VE GOT YOU NOW YOU BASTARD!" cried naruto, as his fists made contact with neji's face. But naruto was surprised yet again to find that his fists never connected with flesh. Looking at neji's body he saw that the white eyed boy was enveloped in blue chakra that was visible around his body. The result was that neji pirouetted on one leg in a circle and a dome of chakra protected him sending both naruto and his remaining clone flying.

Naruto landed on the hard ground, his hands were cut and his shadow clone that fell beside him had left him as soon as it hit the ground too.

"What the - what was that?" cried naruto looking at neji, the blue spiralling dome of chakra that had wrapped around neji had vanished and neji stood there completely unharmed. Surrounding him was the faint circular imprint of what he had conjured moments before.

Naruto was determined not to give up; he created another set of shadow clones and had them circle neji in a 360 degree position.

"That only happened because you saw me, there is no way you can protect yourself when you are surrounded" said naruto.

"Try your best you dropout" snarled neji.

Naruto ordered his clones to attack again, but the result was the same as before, neji used his spiralling technique to repel all naruto's shadow clones. Naruto gritted his teeth in frustration but again he refused to let this guy get to him, he was also loosing a lot of chakra so he needed to get serious and finish this match as soon as possible.

He tried to think about what sasuke would do at a time like this, the uchiha prodigy was always good at keeping composed under stress, whenever the uchiha and naruto had sparred, sasuke had scolded naruto for not thinking before he took action, he always told naruto that "Continuing to use a useless technique that has no effect on an opponent is like hitting your head on a steel door, it will eventually knock you out, try to work out your opponents strengths and weaknesses, always create a profile of them in the back of your mind and plan to use another jutsu that you own in your arsenal using what you knew about them as a guide"

Naruto knew what he had to do, he needed to up his ante and think of another strategy. He thought about what he had tried to do so far, he had used shadow clones but neji was an expert at taijutsu, he tried using substitution but neji had foiled his plan. Weapons and direct combat had no effect against neji because he could simply use his spiral technique to counter it, he was a master at long and short attacks, and in other words he had a concrete defence just like gaara. Naruto began to think, he needed something to unbalance neji and put him off his guard and another jutsu to then take him out when he was distracted. But how was he going to do that?.

* * *

><p>While naruto had been racking his brains trying to figure out a plan, neji had stepped closer towards him.<p>

"Naruto you are now in my range" neji said.

"What-what's that?" asked naruto.

Neji positioned himself into a weird battle stance, it was different from the traditional hyuuga style he had made, when he had been fighting hinata, He stood to the side, placed two hands out in front of him and stood with his right leg outstretched in front and his left leg behind, one arm reached down to barely touch the right leg, while the other was raised behind.

"Gentle fist art: 8 trigrams, 64 palms!" announced neji out loud.

"What the hell is a 64 palm?" naruto thought but he had no time to think about anything else before neji sprinted towards him and jabbed two fingers painfully into his stomach. He immediately felt chakra entering his body.

"Two palms!" neji cried then he spun around and began a dance where he swiftly sent a series of painful jabs into naruto's entire body, naruto gasped in pain as he felt his entire body going numb, each jab felt as if poison was being stabbed into him, the more neji jabbed him, the more weak he felt, and the more numb.

Finally neji cried out "64 palms!" and the torture finally ended, naruto fell down on the ground face down, he hardly felt how hard it was because his whole body was so numb. He knew he needed to get up, he spat out some blood and his chest pounded as he tried to breathe.

"Examiner its over" he heard neji say, for a moment, even he, thought it was over, but then, as if he was in a waking dream he saw hinata's face as she had been when neji had finished his fight with her, and then he saw bushy brow, rock lee, after his fight with gaara, and then he scolded himself but being on the ground, he was failing them, he was not honouring his promises to them and naruto uzumaki never goes back on his promises.

He needed to get up, he brought his arms up and lifted himself slowly to his feet he tucked his knees into his body so he was in a crouching position and slowly stood up. He saw neji walking away confidently, he thought he had won and was on his way to the reception area where the rest of the genins stood when genma pointed behind him. Slowly, maybe not quite believing it, neji turned around and looked with astonished eyes at naruto.

"Why don't you give up already, nobody can change who they were born to be, do you want me to kill you!" snapped neji eyes narrowing furiously, his byakugan that had been deactivated, became active again.

"You're wrong, you're so wrong and I feel sorry for you if you believe what you believe" Naruto said in between gasps. He was still fighting for breathe.

"Wake up naruto!, the hokages were born to be hokages, it was determined by fate before they were born, just like how some people are born with fates that they cannot change!" cried neji.

"Are you sure you're not just self-inserting yourself into your own speech?" asked naruto smirking slightly.

"What are you talking about?" asked neji eyebrows now knotting together more tightly.

"It seems like you think people can't change because you can't change or you want to be able to change your own fate" said naruto coughing slightly.

"I have so much potential but I live only to serve people who are supposed to be my kin that is my fate in which I cannot be free of" said neji.

"Serve your kin, what do you mean?" asked naruto.

"Let me tell you the truth about the hyuuga clan, I will tell everyone who will listen because then you will know that I am right and you are wrong" Neji replied.

"In the hidden leaf village there is a noble and aristocratic family called the hyuuga clan, my clan, the hyuuga clan has two branches, the branch and the main parts of the clan, the main household are like the ruling elite whilst the branch family are regarded as a lesser and insignificant side branch of the family" explained neji.

"There is a special law in my clan, in which the branch family must serve and protect the main family even if it costs them their life, this law is enforced with a cursed seal"

"A cursed seal!" gasped naruto thinking about orochimaru and sasuke "Isn't that some kind of mind control technique?"

"It keeps the user in check but you're right, it is a type of mind control jutsu, it can also become like a Taser, whenever the individual disobeys a command their brain can be fried right out of their skulls" said neji, he then turned to the side and looked up into the stands at someone naruto could not see, then he turned back round to face naruto "Anyway back to the story, my father and the current leader of the hyuuga clan, hiashi-sama, were twin brothers, but my father was born a few minutes after his twin and thus was placed in the branch family even though they were both equal in strength"

"That's not fair" said naruto.

"No it isn't, it wasn't, and it was also not fair that I was branded with the curse mark on my third birthday, right onto my small forehead" snapped neji "And… it was also not fair that my father was sentenced to death because of his brother's actions!"

"Wait a minute are you telling me your father was killed by his brother?" asked naruto.

"There was an attempt on hinata's life during the treaty between the lightening country and the hidden leaf village, the lightening country had for years tried to get their hands on the byakugan and so they opted to kidnap hinata, but they were caught by hiashi, hiashi killed one of them and the lightening wanted compensation for it" explained neji unable to look at naruto anymore but at the dusty arena floor.

"Compensation - you don't mean…" said naruto slowly and neji nodded.

"They wanted a life for a life, hiashi-sama's life, but hiashi was from the main branch and was very important to the clan, so my father, who was called hizashi was put in his place just because it was his fate to protect the main branch".

* * *

><p>Neji slowly reached up and began untying the leaf headband on his forehead, when the headband fell, naruto was shocked to see a weird symbol that was imprinted in the young boy's head, it was way more different than sasukes', it was larger and there were two black lines pointing into the middle of neji's forehead where there was etched a cross.<p>

"This is the curse mark that all branch members currently have, it represents loss of freedom because it has a picture of a bird in a cage, this reminds all of the branch members of my clan, that they are forever fated to die protecting their kin, or sometimes of brain damage, we lose our dignity when this is engraved onto our foreheads because we have no control over our lives anymore".

"Big deal!" interrupted naruto stopping neji's monotonous speech.

"What?" said neji eyes narrowing in anger.

"So you have a mark on your body, so what? I have plenty of marks on mine but it doesn't stop me from trying to change my fate!" cried naruto "For example you know the shadow clone jutsu that I used on you? 5 times I tried to pull that off in my graduation test, each time I failed, but I kept trying and I won because of it, I can now do thousands of clones and I became a genin, stop feeling sorry for yourself!"

"Why you" began neji and he began to tie his headband around his head.

"Stop talking down to me, I had a difficult childhood as well, many people have, but that does not give you the excuse to mentally torture people as you have done!"

"You are a child and an idiot, I'll finish you off quickly to spare you even more pain" said neji calmly, he activated his byugakan again.

"You can try" whispered naruto; he had finally thought of a plan, whether he liked it or not, his natural chakra was no longer in use, he had to use the one power that he still possessed. The power of the nine tails.

"I've prove to you, bushy brow, and hinata that people can change their fate believe it!" cried naruto as neji lunged forward to begin their battle again.


	24. Chapter 24: Chidori is born

The Chidori is born, konoha under siege

Naruto slapped his hands together and neji immediately halted his advancement. Naruto roared, trying desperately to release the nine tailed fox's powers from deep inside him.

Neji smirked in amusement "That is not going to work, believe it".

"Shut up! I WILL be hokage and I WILL defeat you here today!" roared naruto, suddenly a circle of red chakra appeared circling his feet, and then the chakra began climbing upwards to devour his entire body.

"What the hell" thought neji, he had already activated his byakugan and he immediately saw the collection of powerful chakra igniting from deep inside naruto, it seemed that was rising up and circulating around his body. The chakra spots that had been blocked by his attacks were opened again and the red coloured chakra, neji could see, was mixing with naruto's natural blue chakra.

"What is going on here?" asked neji, he was sweating now, he felt as if something untamed, wild and dangerous had been set loose from inside the blonde haired boy, he had even saw the scratches that had been inflicted on the boy in front of him heal on their own accord.

"How can this be happening" thought neji but he didn't have time to day dream for long, before naruto, as quick as lightening came running towards him and swiped him with feral like claws. Neji screamed in pain as the chakra seared his skin and he saw the scratch on his arm, he had no defence as naruto began raking his entire body with his claws, neji could not even use his spiralling sphere technique and he had to take the beating. Luckily however naruto paused in his barrage of attacks because the chakra that was escaping from him was causing him internal and external pain also. Neji used the sphere technique when naruto made his next move and great explosion erupted throughout the stadium. Leaves and sand went everywhere making the audience shield their eyes for a moment. When the whirl storm had stopped they looked back down at the arena.

Neji was standing there exhausted over what looked like a defeated naruto. Up in the stands sakura placed both hands over her mouth.

"Oh no" she whispered.

"Told you he won't win" whispered ino from beside sakura. She looked slightly sorry for naruto as well, she had really thought the blonde haired boy stood a chance against the hyuuga prodigy for a split second.

But both girls and boy (Chouji had joined them in the stands) were shocked as they saw naruto appear from the ground right from underneath neji and punch him hard in the chin sending him flying a few feet away from him. The naruto on the ground vanished to reveal that it was a shadow clone; there was a hole where it had lain.

"I see now" whispered Chouji.

"What-what do you see?" snapped ino "Neji knocked him out I saw it!"

"Naruto dug underneath the ground and came out right underneath neji's feet" explained sakura exuberantly "That last punch sapped the last of neji's strength from him, it's over naruto won!"

She, ino and Chouji stood up and clapped for naruto along with the rest of the crowd. Naruto, meanwhile, who was still on the arena floor, ignored the crowd and went over to neji.

"Like I said, that shadow clone technique tripped me up 5 times in the graduation test, so whenever you stand before someone and call them a failure, remember what I've just shown you; that a failure can become a winner, everyone has the power to change their own destiny and some people need to work harder to achieve success, luckily for you, you are not a failure you're a genius already" explained naruto and he reached out his hand in order to help neji up.

"It's okay, I'll be fine" said neji, stubbornly, his eyes told naruto that he was still in shock.

It was then that the cheering from the crowd reached naruto's ears. He looked up at the audience cheering uproariously at him, the winner, he could not believe these people who had doubted his abilities for years were cheering for him and calling his name now. Naruto raised his hand and gave a simple peace hand sign with his right hand.

"I did it sasuke, I've got through" thought naruto to himself and he could not help but smile. It had been a long time coming.

Outside the arena in the training fields kakashi hatake was walking down the long path that would take them back to konoha. He turned back when he noticed that his new apprentice was not following him, turning back he shouted "Sasuke! Aren't you coming?"

Sasuke who had changed slightly (as in he had longer bangs that framed his face) over the past few months appeared at the entrance of the training fields and nodded seriously at his sensei, and both sensei and student walked together towards the massive stadium in the distance.

The crowd had finally settled down and naruto had returned to the fighters' podium where the rest of the competitors stood waiting for their fight. There was a hush in the stadium and genma, the proctor overseeing the final tournament, was speaking fervently to a fellow comrade on the arena floor.

"Naruto! You were brilliant down there" cried shikamaru when naruto made his appearance beside him.

"Yep you just have to try and beat that shikamaru" replied naruto.

"I guess I will, after all, I'm only fighting against a girl" sneered shikamaru; beside him temari had to be held back by kankurou immediately.

"So who is the next match then?" asked naruto innocuously.

"Its sasuke's you dope" snapped shikamaru "But he's not here, is he".

"Come on sasuke, what are you playing at?" thought naruto getting more and more worried about his best friend. He said to shikamaru "He must be still training knowing him, he never stops we're exactly alike".

"Well while he's training, the audience is that close to starting a riot" said shikamaru arching his eyebrows and indicating just how restless the audience is getting with his fingers. They were a millimetre apart.

After about what seemed like half an hour, genma, the exam proctor, pointed shockingly to shikamaru.

"Shikamaru Nara come on down your match is next!" cried genma.

Shikamaru was not the only person that went "WHAT!" in the audience.

"Oh man, this is such a drag! Naruto! Ask neji for a rematch, damn it" moaned shikamaru trying to duck out of view.

"Come on Shik, don't be a coward, you want the girls to see you being a pussy?" asked naruto tapping shikamaru reassuringly on the back.

That made shikamaru think about his decision, he nodded and made to leap over the rail but he choked.

"Naruto I can-WHAT THE FUCKING HELL!" roared shikamaru as naruto shoved him over the rail. Temari had already descended on to the arena floor 2 seconds ago.

Now shikamaru appeared face down on the ground in front of her.

"Hurry up and stand up! You lanky little coward!" snapped temari thumping her fan on the sandy ground.

Shikamaru collected himself together and stood up; as he dusted himself off he thought "Thanks a lot naruto, you're so going to get it when I'm finished" he looked at naruto now, who had a wide grin on his face from the combatant's area.

Shikamaru and temari faced each other from either side of genma. Genma explained the basic rules in a monotonously rehearsed voice.

"Listen temani, I'll try to go easy on you" began shikamaru.

"My name is temari! And if you think I'm going to be out after one shot you have another thing coming" hissed temari.

Shikamaru who was habitually rubbing the back of his neck, stopped and narrowed his eyes.

"This girl has spunk" he thought to himself "I have to seriously avoid underestimating her, especially when she uses that fan"

He had a flashback to tenten's match and then thought "This is going to be a major drag, not only am I fighting against a girl, I'm fighting against a powerful girl, and I'll get so much stick if I'm defeated".

The match started and the crowd roared in relief and happiness.

(20 minutes later)

Naruto tapped his fingers annoyingly on the railing that stopped the combatants from going onto the arena floor below. For hours, shikamaru had been hiding underneath the only tree on the battlefield looking up at the sky.

"Oh come on shikamaru, this is so boring" whispered naruto.

Meanwhile, shikamaru was looking up at the clouds trying to desperately seek inspiration from the clouds.

"Man this is such a drag, all I ever wanted to do was to live a basic shinobi life, go through the ranks, marry a local leaf woman who was neither a beauty nor a hag, and then to have children, and spend my old age playing shogi and go with asuma sensei".

The crowd was also getting sick of Shikamaru Nara, they began tossing cans down on the arena floor and other assorted objects that would hopefully wake the lazy genin up.

But thankfully shikamaru displayed great logical thinking when he was able to set a well planned trap for temari that made her end up getting caught in his shadow possession jutsu. The match, though, ended in dismay when the lazy genin just couldn't be bothered to take temari out, that, and he had run out of chakra.

"I give up" said shikamaru loudly and firmly.

In the audience, a man shouted "You lazy bum!" and sent another can of soda at shikamaru's head. The pineapple haired boy hardly felt the impact though, and raised his hand in surrender making temari the winner of the match because of his forfeit.

Temari looked at shikamaru as if she thought he was mad and used her fan to elevate her back towards the combatant's box. Shikamaru followed moments later, taking the stairs instead of flying up while people in the audience continued to jeer and toss things at him.

"Shikamaru, you're such a big looser!" sighed shino and naruto, when he finally reached the box.

"Oh well, at least sasuke's fight will cheer them up" said shikamaru shrugging his shoulders.

"If he comes" said shino.

"You guys don't know sasuke like I do, he will come here or die trying" said naruto faithfully.

They all waited hours, genma was determined to wait for sasuke to come as the hokage had pleaded for him to wait at least 15 minutes, when sasuke still failed to show, kankurou announced that he was prepared to start his match. But that was hardly a match at all; 5 minutes into it kankurou forfeited _his _match as well, to the horror of everyone in the stadium! Shino was in slight shock at how easily that match had ended, he suspiciously watched kankurou more closely after that game.

"Shino chill out you won!" cried naruto naively a few minutes later.

"Something's is not quite right here, I heard those sand ninjas talking about some kind of plan during your game naruto" explained shino.

"Maybe it's a game plan!" said naruto dumbly.

"All I know is that kankurou was not putting his all into that match and I want to know why" hissed shino.

Naruto was about to try cheering shino up again; thinking that the mysterious genin was in denial about his abilities but shikamaru interrupted "Naruto! shino is a sore loser, I beat him, in go once, and he still hasn't got over it, don't waste your breath on him!".

Hours passed, naruto had gone off to the toilet five times already.

"Sasuke I'm going to be dehydrated by the time you get here" growled naruto.

"Let's go and see ino, Chouji and sakura" said shikamaru casually "They must be worried too or maybe they have some information".

"Yeah let's" replied naruto grudgingly. But then there was a blast of chakra that erupted from the middle of the arena. The audience, shikamaru and naruto had covered their eyes. When the dust disappeared they saw the spiky hawkish hair, onyx eyes and the calm smile of sasuke uchiha and kakashi hatake standing in the middle of the arena.

"That just goes to show how much of a show off he is" sneered naruto "OI SASUKE WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN MATE!"

But sasuke hardly heard him, naruto turned to shikamaru "Let's go sit with sakura and the others" and they took the stairs not realising that gaara had already gone in front of them.

"Man I knew he would get here! I told you shikamaru, I told you" said naruto excitedly "That jammy little bastard! Making such a big show".

"I hope he has trained enough, its going to be a tough game" replied shikamaru then he stopped. Naruto stopped as well looking confused.

"What's up shikamaru?" asked naruto. Shikamaru pointed ahead and naruto followed where he was pointing.

Gaara was in front of them, on either side of him stood two intimidating men.

"Should we help him?" asked naruto.

"And get ourselves killed, I can sense the danger radiating from him" hissed shikamaru.

They continued to watch but what they saw left them in shock. Blood splattered the walls and the two wannabe killers were thrown around in the air then came slamming back down on the ground, decapitated, while gaara laughed maniacally over their bodies a few seconds later. It all happened very fast, in a blink of an eye, and it left both shikamaru and naruto dazed, so dazed they could barely move. After gaara had finished his laughing spree he slowly began walking down the winding stairs towards the arena. When he rounded the stairs and saw naruto and shikamaru standing at the end of the corridor he smiled, winked and continued on his way. The bestial expression of psychotic mania still etched into his face.

"Shik-Shikamaru" stammered naruto.

"What was that? What is that guy" asked shikamaru slowly shaking wildly beside the blonde haired boy.

"I don't know" whispered naruto "I just don't know, he isn't of this world".

"It must be that beast he was telling us about, listen naruto! We need to warn sasuke about him, to stop the match, that guy is a psycho" cried shikamaru shaking naruto by his shoulders to emphasise his point. But naruto had flashbacks to when sasuke was younger and when he had trained so hard that he had collapsed, when his hands became bruised, once, injuring his head and blood was spurting from it that it had to be stitched. He just could not ruin sasuke's opportunity right now. The uchiha would never forgive him.

"The proctors will stop the match if it gets out of hand" said naruto brushing shikamaru's hands away.

"But naruto, a true friend would not send his friend to fight against such a person!" snapped shikamaru.

"What the hell do you know about him shikamaru? Nothing, you weren't there when he nearly killed himself a few years back, and when he has tried to end it a dozen more times after that, doing well as a shinobi is the one thing that keeps him going" cried naruto "I believe in him and that is what makes me a good friend" he pushed past shikamaru heading to the upper balconies.

"Wait naruto" yelled shikamaru, naruto turned back.

"I'm sorry man, I didn't know, but let's still put kakashi sensei in the picture, that's all I'm saying" said shikamaru. Naruto thought about it and nodded.

Meanwhile back in the arena sasuke was standing opposite his opponent, gaara, sasuke was unaware that this genin had mercilessly decapitated two men in a corridor 5 minutes ago.

"Why is he smiling at me like that?" thought sasuke as gaara was maniacally smiling at the uchiha, the gourd on his back popped open and sand became spilling onto the floor circulating around his feet as slowly and slithery like a snake.

"Wait! I haven't said go yet" said genma firmly. Gaara did not even bat an eyelid at the rebuke but continue to glaze hungrily at sasuke.

Sasuke was slowly becoming more and more unnerved by the genin in front of him.

"Go!" shouted genma

Sasuke immediately and atheletically somersaulted backwards in order to get some distance between him and gaara. But gaara was not being patient and sent a wave of sand after sasuke, sasuke somersaulted backwards a few more paces but was surprised that the wave of sand stopped suddenly.

"What are you doing? Toying with me" asked sasuke narrowing his eyes.

Gaara did not say anything but the sand continued to writhe around on the ground, around him, protecting him sasuke thought.

"Well let's see how fast your sand really is!" cried sasuke and began to sprint super fast towards gaara. Gaara's eyes widened in shock as sasuke began to send punches all around his body, his sand desperately tried to keep up but sasuke finally managed to see an opening and sent a powerful punch into gaara's head.

Gaara went flying backwards, a crack appearing at the side of his head. The cracked flesh fell to the ground turning immediately to sand.

"Is that that armour of sand again? Time to break it once and for all!" said sasuke and began to sprint towards gaara again. Gaara was ready for it and sent a delunge of sand zooming towards sasuke, sasuke was able to use his supernatural speed to dodge the attack and the other sand projectiles that were sent towards him. But then, as sasuke dodged the last sand wave he suddenly vanished.

Up in the stands naruto was shocked along with shikamaru, kakashi, ino, sakura, Chouji, rock lee and gai.

"He has never vanished before when we've sparred" said naruto.

"We've been training a lot naruto, every single day" said kakashi "It is only normal that I taught sasuke some new techniques"

Naruto looked at the arena where gaara was looking around wildly for his best friend, he nodded and whispered "I understand".

Sasuke appeared right in front of gaara and sent a slamming kick into his chin, then he began to slam his feet repeatedly into gaara's groin, they both entered the air, when gaara was off the ground away from his protective sand barrier, sasuke vanished again and sent a wild series of punches into gaara's stomach, gaara fell from the air towards the ground. His whole body of armour destroyed.

Sasuke landed on the ground, although he was a little out of breath he seemed to not be affected by the attack he had just done on gaara.

Gaara though, was getting very frustrated. He stood up and looked furiously at sasuke. He slammed both hands together and immediately a solid hard dome of sand enveloped him inside a ball of sand.

"What the hec" began sasuke but he did not stop and think and sprinted towards the ball and sent a punch. This was the last thing he should have done because as soon as he touched the ball a spiky solid spike of sand came shooting out of it, luckily sasuke stood very still and it did not impale him. Sasuke began breathing quickly in relief and horror at how close he had come to certain death.

Sasuke decided to risk it again and vanished and reappeared on top of the dome. Apart from a strange eye hovering over the dome it seemed like a good idea and sasuke kicked the dome, another spike came shooting out of it, luckily sasuke sensed it and quickly leapt as far away from it as possible.

"COME ON SASUKE!" cried both ino, sakura and naruto together. Naruto was indeed a bit excited by the match in which his best friend was fighting very well in. He was proud that sasuke was fighting so confidently and bravely against a deadly and strange opponent, as soon as gaara created his dome of sand he knew that something the uchiha had done had unnerved gaara so much that the genin was now hiding from fear.

Sasuke decided that he needed to up his ante and stood up and took a deep breath.

"Oh sasuke are you using that technique already?" whispered kakashi sensei from behind naruto.

"What technique, what what what?" cried naruto enthuaisiastically.

"Wait and see, i have given sasuke a trump card technique to use" explained kakashi.

Sasuke began to run up the side of the stadium until he was sitting on the walls of the arena. He crouched down and held both hands on top of another, it looked like a focal hand seal in which to focus his chakra. But naruto was shocked to see that sasuke's chakra was visible just like how his nine tailed chakra become visible when he let it loose.

"Sasuke, that's so cool" whispered naruto.

"This technique is called chidori, and it was once originally mine" announced kakashi.

Sasuke placed one leg behind and began a sprinting descent down the side of the arena wall, towards gaara's dome of sand. The chidori made the noise of a thousand birds chirping. The attack happened so fast and the lightening chakra went crashing into gaara's dome.

There was silence. Everyone including naruto waited yearningly for the results of sasuke's last attack. What happened next was completely unexpected. There was a blast of chakra accompanied by gaara's blood curdling scream; it sounded like the young genin had never had an injured placed on him. He made the audience covered their eyes in pain and sasuke screamed along with him as what looked like a scaly clawed hand was brought out of the dome along with sasuke's. Sasuke scrambled backwards in a panic whilst he looked horrified at the inside of the dome where his technique had gone in.

"SASUKE!" began naruto was suddenly he noticed that the arena was raining with feathers; naruto was confused for a while before he heard sakura calling him.

"Naruto quick! It is genjutsu!"

Naruto nodded and even though he felt sleepy he made the seal and whispered "Release!" and the feathers stopped falling and the tiredness abated. Naruto had been sparring with sasuke for ages not to recognise a genjutsu straightaway.

Flashback

"I'll definitely defeat you this time sasuke!" naruto yelled to a confident looking young sasuke, sasuke held a finger and beckoned for naruto to bring it on, naruto childishly raced towards sasuke, naruto cut sasuke with his kunai and saw that he had vanished.

"Naruto!" cried a voice. Naruto turned and saw sasuke laughing near a tree, naruto raced up confidently thinking that finally he had a chance to silence the arrogant uchiha once and for all.

"Got you nowwww!" yelled naruto and sent his kunai into sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke held his shoulder in pain and naruto was excited until this sasuke vanished too.

"WHAT THE?" yelled naruto as the realisation that he was alone in the forest came to him "SASUKE YOU BAKAAAAAAA!"

End flashback

"NARUTO BEHIND YOU!" screamed sakura. Naruto was too slow; he turned around and saw the enemy ninja standing behind him. People were asleep on the ground around him; the enemy ninja had a sharp kunai in his hand and sent it slashing into naruto.


	25. Chapter 25: Shukaku's jinchuuriki

Chapter 25: Shukaku's Jinchuuriki 

A flying kick sent the enemy ninja flying to one side, luckily naruto had ducked and only a little of his hair was cut off. Kakashi sensei had saved him.

"Naruto!" cried sakura leaping to her team mate's side to see if he was alright "Are you hurt, did he cut you?"

"Nah sakura, I'm good, where's sasuke? I need to help him" replied naruto and began to look around for his friend. He saw sasuke on the arena floor being protected by genma (the exam proctor) while a few enemy ninja were trying to get to him.

"Go on naruto, I'll cover for sakura, don't let sasuke get too far with that cursed seal" whispered kakashi in naruto's ear as he stepped closer to him in order to bat away another enemy ninja who looked like a member of the sound village.

Naruto nodded and began leaping over chairs towards the arena floor. Two enemy ninjas appeared in the air directly above him in seconds lunging towards him, but suddenly gai appeared and sent a leaf hurricane technique knocking them away.

"Thanks gai sensei!" cried naruto as he ran pass the green jumpsuit wearing jounin.

"No problemo naruto!" yelled gai from behind the blonde as he began sending a wild series of punches and flying kicks at the other enemy ninja descending on him, kakashi and sakura.

Naruto arrived on the arena floor to see genma surrounded by two ninjas from the sand village, he looked up and saw that leaf jounins were fighting sand shinobi; he could not believe that they had been betrayed on their own land by supposed allies. He had no time to daydream and sprinted towards genma, sent two shadow clones to distract the sand shinobis and arrived at sasuke's side.

"Naruto where's sakura and kakashi?" asked sasuke nervously, he had his sharingan ablaze and he looked quite unsettled.

"Their okay, what's wrong sasuke, you look shaken?" asked naruto.

"Just what is this guy?" asked sasuke to himself instead of to naruto . He looked over and saw gaara (his sand dome had vanished) and he was standing behind his own men breathing heavily, his arm bloodied.

"GAARA!" cried a voice, both sasuke and naruto looked up and saw temari and kankurou descending on the floor beside their brother, kankurou took one of gaara's arms and wrapped it around his shoulder and temari took the other. They were escaping.

"Oh no you don't!" shouted naruto and made to lunge towards the trio but the enemy ninja kicked him back before he could make a move.

"Naruto, sasuke! Don't go after him, he's too dangerous" said genma.

Naruto and sasuke looked at each other and both smirked at genma's worried face.

"The first one to kill gaara has their favourite meal tonight" said sasuke looking at naruto.

"Bring it on sasuke baka!" said naruto excitedly.

Before genma could stop them, sasuke made a couple of hand seals, slammed them to the ground and cried "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" and there was a blast of chakra. Genma shielded his eyes from it and saw a pair of wings come out of the cloud of chakra, then the head and body of a hawk with naruto and sasuke atop of it.

"Sasuke! Naruto! No" cried genma trying to run towards the hawk.

"We'll be fine, it's the power of the uzumaki against the power of the uchiha combined, we'll have this wrapped up in no time" replied naruto and riku flew into the air and flew straight after the sand siblings.

Sakura, kakashi and gai watched them go with a worried expression on their faces.

"Are they mad or something? Going after those sand ninja" asked sakura.

"Your absolutely right there sakura" said kakashi, then shockingly, he turned around crouched down beside the sleeping figure of Shikamaru Nara and whispered "Oi, shikamaru wake up I know your not sleeping!"

"WHATTTTT?" yelled both Gai and sakura as shikamaru reluctantly collected himself from the ground.

"I know your not the stupidest genin, your IQ is pretty impressive after all, this makes me certain that you'll see a genjutsu coming a mile away" explained kakashi smirking slightly, then he became serious "Listen sakura, shikamaru - naruto is easily influenced by his friendly rivalry with sasuke, that means that sasuke may feel confident enough to overexert himself, I'm sending you as a back up team, find naruto and sasuke, and try your best to protect them"

"But we don't even know which way they went, remember they had wings and we don't, plus I don't mean to be rude but two people with the skills that with have, stand no chance against an unknown enemy" explained shikamaru "If there is an ambush laying in wait ahead we'll have no way of finding out"

"Take me!" said a low voice, kakashi, sakura; shikamaru and gai turned and saw Shino Aburame walking towards them.

"Shino! How did you escape the genjutsu?" asked sakura.

"My bugs warned me that there was a genjutsu being put on me, immediately I was able to dispel it, so what do you say, can I join the hunt?" said shino.

"Of course, you are a tracker ninja aren't you? You'll make a valuable member of the team" replied shikamaru.

"Okay sensei, I'll see you then, come on we don't have time to continue talking!" cried sakura and she began to sprint off.

"Ok, Ok" said shikamaru and he and shino followed her.

"Be careful" thought kakashi as he watched them go.

* * *

><p>Naruto looked wildly from left to right as sasuke's animal summon riku glided gracefully through the air.<p>

"Will you stop that already" snapped sasuke after a while.

"So what freaked you out about gaara, sasuke? I saw you running away like a frightened little kid" asked naruto.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at naruto's teasing "I was not frightened, something strange came out of that dome".

"What was it?" asked naruto petrified.

"A monster's hand, it had my hand and would have ripped it off if I didn't use chidori to break free" explained sasuke.

"Listen sasuke, I was supposed to tell you this but I thought you wouldn't believe me, gaara is a monster, he has something inside him" said naruto morosely.

"A monster? What kind of monster" asked sasuke.

"Like one of those monsters of legends, like the nine tails" said naruto.

Sasuke looked worried for a moment and looked at the back of his hawk for a few seconds in deep thought, then he smiled and replied "Well it looks like it was good of me to enter these chuunin exams, I've been certainly pushed to the limits haven't i?"

"You'll need my help if you want to defeat him sasuke, trust me, we should team up!" begged naruto.

"Hnn, forget that, we'll stick to the bet, I don't need you getting in my way" sneered sasuke.

"WHAT! What is that sasuke? This is no longer the chuunin exams, there are ninjas out there that want to kill us now" yelled naruto standing on the hawk's backside and gesticulating to get his point through sasuke's head.

"And I am an avenger, I need to take every opportunity to better myself in order to defeat Itachi, if I defeat gaara it means I'm improving" retorted sasuke.

"Yeah and I thought we were doing this together, as a team, you promised that the both of us are going to defeat that bastard!" cried naruto.

"Okay then, calm down, if he looks like he will kill me just step in" sighed sasuke accepting defeat. Suddenly his sharp eyes caught something moving through the trees "its them come on!"

He ordered riku to go lower and the hawk descended luckily in front of the sand trio stopping their progress. Temari yelled in fury and swung her fan hoping to blow riku away but it had no effect.

"Riku! Get her out of the way" said sasuke indifferently; the hawk raised his talons and batted temari across the face sending her skimming off the trees on the ground below.

"Temari!" cried kankurou, but before he could even think about revenge, riku curled its talons around kankurou, and tossed him to one side as well.

But suddenly sand enveloped the hawk. Sasuke and naruto realised what was going to happen and escaped just in time before riku was destroyed with gaara's sand coffin technique.

Sasuke and naruto landed in the tree opposite to gaaras'.

"You" whispered gaara still breathing heavily looking at the uzumaki and the uchiha, his eyes were immediately drawn to naruto.

"Yeah you keep looking monster boy, we will be the last people you'll see" said naruto.

"No! Your opponent is me, we never finished our match!" interrupted sasuke holding naruto back with one arm.

"I don't care which one of you I destroy, your both finished" said gaara in his nasally voice. Suddenly both naruto and sasuke gasped when they saw gaara's arm change shape, it became bestial, golden brown with scales, his right side of his face grew larger, his ears became pointed, his eyes had yellow slits for pupils and his teeth and mouth changed as well, his feet became claws and he was growing a tail from behind.

"He transformed" whispered naruto in sasuke's ear.

"I know, must be the monster finally coming out to play" smirked sasuke.

"Sasuke don't underestimate! – WATCH OUT!" began naruto and yelled as gaara sent a big ball of sand straight at sasuke, from his sharingan, sasuke knew that it was embedded with deadly chakra and he and naruto avoided it, gaara sent a few more balls trying to catch them, they avoided them quite well but naruto unluckily slipped on a tree root and began to fall, gaara seeing his chance, sent another ball at naruto, naruto knew that it was over but suddenly a pink haired figure raced out in front of him, caught the attack and went slamming backwards into the tree behind him.

"SAKURA!" shouted sasuke, naruto looked back and saw it was indeed sakura who had received the attack, she was pinned against the tree, out cold.

"No sakura talk to me" whispered naruto, he looked at the solid piece of sand that was pinning her to the tree and tried to yank it off her.

"You'll pay for that" said sasuke looking at gaara, his sharingan red in anger.

"It will be a pleasure to destroy such weak ninjas" growled gaara

He had transformed again, now he had two pointy feral ears, two clawed hands, a feet and a tail.

"Weak" whispered sasuke eyes narrowing in anger, the insult tearing a hole in his ego.

"Yes weak, only weak shinobis risk their lives for others, weak and stupid ninjas" replied gaara.

"She protected us because we're a team, comrades" said sasuke calmly.

"Comrades! It's just a word weak ninja use when they can't fight for themselves so they hide behind people in order to survive" sneered gaara.

"I hide behind no ninja to survive and I'll prove it to you" scoffed sasuke, he spread himself into a fighting stance and waited for gaara to make the first move.

Gaara sent a claw like wave of sand soaring towards sasuke.

"This is it, this is it, this is my time to show everybody how good the uchiha really are" thought sasuke and he began to make the hand seals for chidori. Horror gripped him when he realised he was out of chakra.

"SASUKE!" cried naruto when he saw his best friend get slammed against a nearby tree. Sasuke screamed in pain, he tried to stand but he was out of chakra and was too badly injured.

Gaara mercilessly sent another sand claw towards sasuke hoping to finish him off but naruto, as quick as lightening, picked up his best mate and avoided the attack. He landed on another tree and faced gaara off. He was absolutely pissed off now.

"Grrr why won't you die already!" roared gaara pointing furiously at naruto "Why you do always have to be the hero and save these weak trashy wannabe ninjas!"

"Because I love them" retorted naruto, he was breathing heavily, he didn't no why he felt so angry at gaara and so protective over the uchiha, who had refused to team up with him moments before, but he had flashbacks in his mind, he remembered the time sasuke had finally said thank you after his second attempt of suicide, when he had been out cold in hospital, when he, naruto, had accidentally shrunk their underwear in the washing machine one time and the uchiha had chased him around the apartment. They had both laughed it off afterwards and naruto bought sasuke an ice-cream to say sorry. He immediately knew he didn't want to see gaara cause them anymore pain not sasuke, not sakura the girl he loved.

Suddenly gaara or the monster that had gaara inside him, gripped his head in pain, naruto noticed that the tattoo that was etched onto gaara's forehead was going from red and black repeatedly.

"Love… no…, its not true, yashimaru, what does it mean" babbled gaara.

"Yashimaru? Whose yashimaru" asked naruto abruptly.

Gaara stopped muttering and looked at naruto with his deadly demonic eyes.

"He's a dead man, and soon you will be too" whispered gaara.

* * *

><p>Suddenly there was a burst of chakra and then the trees became uprooted and everything started to blow away, naruto quickly grabbed sasuke to keep him steady, sakura was pinned to the tree safely but her tree did not fall down. When the whirl storm stopped, naruto opened his eyes and saw a large raccoon standing in a massive clearing where there were trees before.<p>

"HO HO HO! I'm out, I'm outTTT!" boomed a loud voice. Naruto could not see the face of creature in front of him so he could only think to match gaara's technique with his own. He bit his thumb and placed both palms on the ground and summoned gamabunta.

Gamabunta overlooked the whole forest and naruto was able to see the raccoon in front of him, it seemed not to care that it was in a battle, it was singing and punching the air in excitement not at all realising that gamabunta was in front of it.

"Naruto! What is the meaning of this? Why is shukaku in front of me" roared gamabunta.

"There's a red haired genin controlling him, he's going to destroy konoha if I don't do something about it" explained naruto.

"I see him, look" replied gamabunta and pointed his webbed hand straight to shukaku's head. Naruto looked up and his eyes brightened with relief when it saw the red hair of gaara on top of shukaku's head.

"Why is he all stooped?" asked naruto "Shouldn't he be controlling shukaku?"

"It looks like the genin has severed the seal that keeps shukaku in control" explained gamabunta "In this case he has simply fallen asleep".

"Fallen asleep, then shouldn't someone wake him up!" cried naruto naively.

"You have to wake him up, you dope!" said a small strained voice. Naruto looked around for the source; he leaned over the side of gamabunta and saw sasuke hanging on to a piece of gamabunta's sword sheath looking scared and frustrated at the same time.

"Sasuke! Here take my hand" cried naruto and stretched out his hand to help sasuke climb on top of gamabunta.

"An uchiha huh, that is very… unexpected" boomed gamabunta in surprise.

"Shut up you fat toad" snarled sasuke.

"WHAAAT do you say you little runt!" roared gamabunta in anger.

"Sasuke, chief toad is the chief toad of his kind, you have to remember your manners" whispered naruto.

"I ain't bowing to a toad! Now have you worked out a plan for ending this fight!" snapped sasuke.

"Chief do you know what to do?" asked naruto politely.

"I'm not doing nothing until the uchiha apologises" said gamabunta stubbornly.

Naruto knew that sasuke was doing his nut by now, first he had failed to bring gaara down and now he had to apologise to a toad for hurting its feelings, naruto sat down trying to think of a safe way to persuade the uchiha to apologise without sasuke going into a rant.

* * *

><p>"I'm…sorry" said sasuke gritting his teeth in frustration a few moment's later.<p>

"Aw if only I could take a picture of this day" said gamabunta wiping imaginary tears from his eyes "Now all you have to do, naruto, is wake the brat up, once you do that you only have to defeat him, but once he awakes he cannot use shukaku again for some time".

"Okay then let's do this!" said naruto excitedly.

"OI WHAT ARE YOU LOT PLANNING OVER THERE?" shouted shukaku stopping his dancing jig and looking at the people opposite him.

"You've only just noticed, you pathetic excuse for a mythical beast" sneered sasuke.

"WHAT DID THAT SPIKY HAIRED BASTARD SAY?" screamed shukaku.

"I SAID! You are a pathetic excuse for a mythical beast" replied sasuke loudly.

"OH MAN THAT'S IT! YOU'RE GOING DOWN TO THE GROUND BABY!" roared shukaku getting serious.

"Where else would we be going?" asked naruto teasingly. But had to grip onto gamabunta suddenly when a water bullet came soaring towards them, gamabunta had to dodge some and squat some away with his silver sword. Then he lunged when he saw an opening and both shukaku and gamabunta were locked trying to break each other's defences.

"Narutooo… get on him already" groaned gamabunta, sasuke was faster than naruto and sprinted over gamabunta's head and flipped onto shukakus' and sent a powerful punch at gaara's face. Gaara immediately awoke and shukaku stopped fighting against gamabunta.

Before gaara had time to take in the situation sasuke used his quick reactions and speed to send a powerful roundhouse kick at gaara knocking him off the side of his summoning, gaara went soaring down to the forest floor at a great speed.

"SASUKE YOU DID IT! YOU DID IT, YOU DID IT!" roared naruto leaping up and down gamabunta's back.

"Oi OI easy kid, I ain't a young spring chicken you know" retorted gamabunta "And shouldn't you help him, he's falling quite fast".

"Ooops!" said naruto but gamabunta reluctantly grabbed sasuke and placed him on his back. He then vanished leaving his sword in order for naruto and sasuke to stand on, they were then able to drop down safely onto a tree branch and locate gaara on the ground.

* * *

><p>He had fallen from a great height and it had sapped the last remaining strength from him, he was now laying on his back on the forest floor, looking up at the sky in complete shock. Naruto and sasuke landed beside him on each side.<p>

"You surprised me naruto uzumaki, sasuke uchiha" whispered gaara, his voice was dry and came out strained.

"Who was yashimaru? The guy who you were babbling about when we were fighting" asked naruto.

"He was my uncle, he tried to kill me under my father's orders when I was very young" explained gaara "Nobody in my village acknowledges me because of the demon I have within me, they shunned me everyday of my life and I hate them for it"

"Your own uncle, tried to kill you" said sasuke feeling like he could sympathise with the red haired boy, it was something they had in common. He knew the feelings that could manifest with the realisation that the person, who you have always trusted, has betrayed you.

"I was alone for a long time too" said naruto suddenly, sasuke gasped and turned to look at him to listen, naruto continued after a small pause "Yeah I was, I never had a family and everybody in this village would shun me and throw stuff at me without me ever doing anything to deserve it, at one point I considered just ending it until I found sasuke, iruka sensei, sakura, bushy brow and the rest of the rookie genins, they saved me from the darkness that I kept feeling everyday"

"Naruto..." thought sasuke, he was surprised at what the blonde was telling this complete stranger, he would never divulge something to someone he did not know, was he bad for doing that?

"Sasuke uchiha your eyes bare the blunt of some unknown agony" gaara said suddenly "What made you have such sad eyes?"

"I have nothing with me, come on naruto let's go" said sasuke turning away.

"His brother killed his entire family" said naruto abruptly.

"NARUTO!" roared sasuke gripping onto naruto's hand hard, naruto saw the glint of red in his eyes but naruto simply ripped his arm away from the uchiha.

Crouching beside the red haired genin he continued to whisper to gaara: "Gaara you can change too and you must believe that the people in your village can change, the people in my village have started to accept me" said naruto.

"But how did they come to accept you?" asked gaara looking at naruto now with his shocked eyes.

"I gave them a chance, I let them in, and so they eventually changed their opinions about me" naruto explained "I couldn't rush it and believe me a lot of people still turned their backs on me, they still do, but I've at least made some friends"

"Friends" whispered gaara looking up at the blue sky above him.

"GAARA!" shouted a male voice, naruto looked up and so did sasuke, kankurou was running through the trees, he descended on the forest floor and began to take out his kunai, sasuke extracted his but then temari arrived on the scene behind him ready to strike.

"Temari…kankurou stop, I'm sick of this" cried gaara. Both of gaara's siblings seemed surprised at the order but lowered their weapons.

"Take him to a hospital quickly, his exhausted" said naruto casually to temari; she could not take her eyes off of naruto's face whilst kankurou looked carefully at sasuke who nodded. They both seemed stunned at what had just happened. They then snapped of it and slowly picked gaara up and, nodding in thanks to naruto and sasuke for sparing gaara's life, they left the vicinity, gaara between them.

"What a fight" sighed naruto landing on the forest floor "Can you pass me a chakra pill?"

Sasuke tossed a pill to naruto and said seriously to him "I'll get sakura down, we need to get back to the village and help out the best we can, and I feel like something's happened" he looked back in the direction of konoha village when he said that.


	26. Chapter 26: We salute you Lord Hokage

Chapter 26: We Salute you Lord Hokage

"What the hell is that?" asked sasuke. They were flying through the trees in the direction of konoha, they had to come in via the stadium because the front gates were heavily blocked by both enemy and leaf village ninja who were fighting. Sasuke had sakura in his arms and she was still out cold, both boys knew they needed to stop off at a hospital as soon as possible. But as the village came in full view they were shocked to see a crowd of people surrounding something on the ground on the roof of the stadium where the kages had sat during the chuunin exams.

"Maybe they have caught the intruder" guessed naruto.

"But where is the hokage?" asked sasuke "I can't see him"

Naruto shrugged. They discreetly and cautiously went back into the stadium and went to the konoha hospital. The hospital was full of injured shinobi on the ground, it was that packed that they could hardly get to the nurses in order to drop sakura off.

"Looks like the fighting is over, the hospital would not be here if it wasn't" observed sasuke. Naruto nodded in agreement.

"Haven't you guys heard the news?" asked a nurse, she looked like she had been crying.

"What's the matter miss? Tell us!" said naruto soothingly.

"The hokage… his dead" sobbed the nurse.

Sasuke and naruto could hardly move, they felt as if they had entered a terrible nightmare in which the world had gone weird.

"That's not true, stop lying miss, stop it this minute!" snapped naruto shaking the woman's shoulders, wanting to slap her for her stupidity.

"Naruto" said sasuke gently, he knew by the woman's body language that she was telling the truth, and he also knew that naruto did not want to accept the truth, when the blonde did not hear him the first time, sasuke forcefully ripped naruto's hands away from the young nurse. The nurse accepted sasuke's apology and sasuke held naruto by his shoulders.

Looking into his eyes seriously he said "Be a man naruto! This is what happens when you become a hokage, you're forced with the possibility of death everyday" whispered sasuke.

"Call her back sasuke, has she even seen the body?" cried naruto furiously.

"Why would she lie naruto? Just ask yourself that?" retorted sasuke.

But all naruto could see were flashbacks; he remembered when the third hokage used to pay the academy a surprise visit, and when he had comforted naruto in his most dark days.

"Sasuke can I have a hug?" asked naruto who had tears streaming down his face by the time he finished reminiscing.

"Knock it off" scoffed sasuke moving away, just in time before the blonde could hug him.

A few days later found naruto and sasuke waking up very early, sasuke got ready in his black ninja suit, he checked his reflection in his bedroom mirror before crossing the corridor and knocking on naruto's door.

"Naruto" he called, not waiting for a reply (as usual) he opened the door and found naruto still in his underwear looking at a photo of the hokage.

"Naruto hurry up and get ready, were going to be late" said sasuke sternly.

"Okay give me a few minutes sasuke, I'm still in shock" whispered naruto.

"Okay but I'm leaving if you're not ready in 5 minutes" said sasuke and closed naruto's door.

He waited outside with his back to naruto's room and finally allowed himself to sigh in peace, he would not show it (it wasn't the uchiha's style to show emotion) but he was already missing the presence of the leader of the leaf village, he remembered when the third hokage had allowed him to stay with naruto in his times of turmoil, and when he had comforted him when he had visited his parents' grave, when he had finally been strong enough to face it. But the main reason why sasuke tried to repress his grief was because he kept remembering his own family's funeral. He hated thinking about the past.

He snapped out of it, and knocked naruto's door to tell him to get a move on one last time and then went to put on his boots.

"How do I look?" asked naruto a while later when they were walking down the ghost like street of konoha.

"What are you, a girl? You look all dreary, like you should be looking when you're going to a funeral!" snapped sasuke, they went to pick up sakura from her home. They were all in black and naruto had left his forehead protector back at the apartment, his hair hung loosely without anything to hold it up but the blonde was jumpy with nerves.

"Naruto calm down, okay and listen" said sasuke after a while. They were still some way away from sakura's house but sasuke stopped in order to talk to naruto.

Naruto stopped and looked at the uchiha waiting for him to continue "What is it sasuke?"

"You need to be strong today, especially for konohamaru alright? You need to set an example"

"I will try sasuke, I promise" replied naruto.

They arrived at sakura's home, sakura hugged both of them when she came out, naruto was quite surprised at the display of affection until sakura said "It's for saving me from gaara, I'm very grateful".

"Its no problem sakura, I would fight him again if the situation arose believe it!" said naruto seriously. Sakura smiled but her face lit up when she saw sasuke's face, ignoring naruto's sad expression, she said that they should both make their way to the memorial service, she left naruto to walk behind while she walked beside sasuke.

The funeral was held at the top of the Hokage Mountain, underneath the faces of the previous hokages, there was a stage set with a million pictures of the recently decreased. The third hokage's picture was centred in the middle surrounded by bunches of colourful flowers; sakura went up with naruto and sasuke to lay down her own flowers.

"Naruto, sasuke, you didn't bring flowers?" hissed sakura.

"We forgot sakura, we're sorry" whispered naruto back.

They joined the congregation behind them, they passed Shino who was dressed all in black, and they patted him appreciatively on the shoulder, they also did the same to shikamaru, they had both sacrificed their lives in order for sakura to catch up with them during the fight with gaara after all.

There was a long period of respectful silence. Naruto stood next to kakashi sensei. After a while he heard the heart breaking sound of someone weeping down the line where he stood, naruto craned his head around to see who it was that was crying and saw the spiky hair and the small frame of konohamaru standing crying. Iruka walked past naruto towards the young boy and hugged him gently. Naruto wanted so much to cry but he remembered sasuke's words and the code of the ninja.

"One of the rules of being a ninja, never shed a tear during a mission, not even if a comrade is killed" naruto repeated in his mind. It was a rule instilled in all ninja from an early age. Iruka sensei should be scolding konohamaru at this weakness but iruka took pity on him since the third was his only close relative.

"Kakashi sensei" whispered naruto to the masked man beside him.

"Hnn?" kakashi replied.

"Why did he do it? Get himself killed like that, why _do_ people risk their lives for others" asked naruto slowly.

"Well that's a hard question, actually no it isn't, people risk their lives because they are certain that by doing so, those that are precious to them will be protected, and new generation will still carry on, their descendants will increase and their homeland will be protected" explained kakashi tentatively "The hokage knows this when he takes up his position, he knows that he will have to, at times, sacrifice his life, if his home is threatened, the people of his village is his family, therefore he must put his life on the line, in order to make sure another generation is protected, in order to bring up the following one and so on"

"So, in other words, we all have to" whispered naruto. Kakashi did not reply to that.

The memorial service lasted for a while and finally the skies, which had been dark grey dispersed and sunlight rained down from the heavens, naruto felt a lift in his spirit when he saw it and looked up at the sunlight. The warmness of the sun relaxed him.

At the end of the service as the congregation dispersed naruto bravely went up to the photo of the third hokage and saluted it.

He then held out a bold fist towards the picture and whispered "I will definitely not forget your sacrifice third".

Others had seen what naruto had done, sasuke smiled at naruto's determination and went up to stand beside his best friend and mimicked what he had just done, others then feeling more confident went up to pay their respects also and to also make an oath to help avenge the old man's death as well. They all then left the hokage mountain giving naruto a smile and the occasional pat on the back to say thank you.

* * *

><p>"Team seven you have the day off, we'll begin training in a two days' time" said kakashi.<p>

"Thanks sensei!" Cried naruto and turned excitedly to his friends "Hey sasuke, sakura, want to go out for some ramen!"

"For the last time naruto, I don't like ramen!" yelled sakura.

"Ohh" said naruto feeling immediately disheartened.

Sasuke however nudged him discreetly in the ribs, he then whispered in naruto's ear "Ask her if she wants something else to eat dope"

"Oh, hey sakura, what would you like to eat then, your choice!" said naruto kindly.

Sakura's face lit up at once at the offer "BBq!"

"Okay let's go there then, sasuke are you coming?" asked naruto.

"Sure" replied sasuke.

As team seven ran off to the bbq restaurant in konoha, they were unaware that two cloaked figures were overlooking the village from the hills that surrounded the village.

One was very tall with spiky blue hair, whilst the other was a head shorter, they wore black cloaks with red clouds on them, and they wore a massive straw traveller's hat, the unusual uniform finished with sandals, instead of ninja boots for their feet.

"The village has been ravaged badly by the recent disturbance" commented the first one excitedly "This is the perfect time to strike".

"Remember we are here for one thing and one thing only" interrupted the shorter one.

"If I didn't know you well, I would still think you have a soft spot for your old village" sneered the tall one.

The man who had his head lowered, looked at the man beside him with his red sharingan eyes and said "I do not".

* * *

><p>A few days later, found naruto training in the fields just outside the village, he had been practising non stop for hours, finally, when his stomach grumbled, naruto stopped, rubbed his belly and decided to go back to the village to grab an early lunch of ramen. Sasuke was out, also training, but he had told naruto not to disturb him, naruto thought about the uchiha as he made his way back to the village, sasuke had been acting weird over the past few days, he had been training constantly, coming back to the apartment and locking himself in his room. He had also been the first one up in the morning and the last one to come in at night.<p>

Naruto suspected that the funeral of the third had made an impact on the uchiha heir but naruto knew better then to sit down and ask him about his feelings. Those things were seen as very feminine to the uchiha and he would simply leave as soon as he heard the word "feelings" so naruto thought it was simply best to leave him to it.

As naruto was making his way to ichiraku, he saw the pink hair of sakura right in front of him.

"Sakura-chan, sakura-chan!" cried naruto excitedly running up to her. Sakura turned around looking glum and said hello to naruto.

"What you up to today sakura?" asked naruto.

"Going shopping for mum" replied sakura, then she became serious "Listen naruto, I was passing near the hokage's tower and I saw konohamaru there, he looks a bit sad, maybe you should go and talk to him, comfort him you know".

"Konohamaru, yeah I will, of course" said naruto with understanding "I'll see you another time then".

"Bye" replied sakura and headed off in the direction of the local shops. Naruto set off towards the hokage's tower.

Since the invasion of the sound and sand ninjas (they had been betrayed by both nations) the village walls, buildings, shops and security borders had been wrecked terribly, builders were now seen everywhere trying to rebuild the once beautiful village. Konohamaru was standing in front of the massive mansion where the hokage used to reside in. A construction team were working to rebuild a broken down shop beside him.

"Hi ko-no-ha-maru!" shouted naruto exuberantly.

Konohamaru quickly wiped away the tears on his face and turned to naruto, he raised a hand, smiled slightly and cried "Hi naruto big brother! How you doing?"

"How are _you _doing?" asked naruto.

"I'm fine" said konohamaru abruptly.

Naruto saw the smile on konohamaru's face (konohamaru is a good actor) then had the niggling feeling that sakura was trying to get rid of him by telling him a lie.

"How are you doing really kon? Its okay I understand how sad it can be for you" began naruto.

"I'm not sad naruto bro, there is a time for that, and many people have lost their loved ones haven't they? It would be selfish to be sad at a time like this!" giggled konohamaru.

There was a silence while both boys stared at each other trying to see something in the other's expression to indicate what the other thought, or, in konohamaru's case, what the other wanted, but konohamaru was definitely not giving anything away.

"Oh naruto, here" said konohamaru breaking the silence, he dug into his shorts and retrieved what looked like a coupon for ramen "I was given this by that ramen chef, but I've kind of gone off the stuff, so you take it".

"Konohamaru, are you sure?" asked naruto feeling guilty and happy at the same time.

"Go on, treat yourself, you deserve it after defeating gaara, if I heard it correctly" replied konohamaru.

"Thanks kon! Wow, I'm definitely going to have bbq ramen for lunch today" said naruto taking the coupon from konohamaru and looking at it carefully.

"Konohamaru!" cried a young girly voice, naruto and konohamaru looked looked to where the voice had come from and saw moegi and udon walking towards them.

"Hi guys, what's up?" asked konohamaru.

"We're going to help the builders clean up the academy building, wanna come with us?" asked moegi.

Konohamaru looked at naruto and non-verbally asked if he wanted to join, but naruto shook his head, konohamaru then said "Later naruto" and joined udon and moegi.

Naruto watched him go and cursed sakura for tricking him like that.

He decided to stuff himself after all at ichiraku. He nearly had a heart attack when he could not find his coupon, when he came to paying for a bowl, finally he located it behind his forehead protector and sat down and dug into his ramen. As he was halfway into eating his ramen, the paper screen parted to allow a guest into the ramen shop. The mysterious individual sat next to naruto, naruto looked up and saw the spiky white hair and eccentric dress of the pervy sage beside him.

"PERV AGE!" said naruto through a mouthful of ramen noodles.

"Hi kiddo, what's happening?" asked jiraiya, he looked the ramen chef and added "Can I have a bowl, please, of miso ramen".

"Coming right up" cried the chef and got to work immediately.

"What the ell are you dobing here!" mumbled naruto, and then swallowed his ramen noodles.

"Well can't I have a bowl of ramen? Plus I want to take you on a road trip, for training purposes I promise you" replied jiraiya.

"Its not so you can research for your pervy books is it?" asked naruto narrowing his eyes.

"I promise its not" said jiraiya becoming serious.

"Okay where are we going?" asked naruto.

"To the next town village, not so far from here" said jiraiya "So what do you think?"

"Okay then, sign me up, I want to train and become stronger after all! got to take the opportunities that arise i guess" said naruto nodding excitedly.

"Great then, meet me tomorrow, when you're all packed up and we'll set off then" said jiraiya.

* * *

><p>"Well at least he taught you something last time" said sasuke, he was sat on the floor of the forest; for the past few hours he had been trying to perfect his chidori, but now he had run out of chakra and was talking to naruto.<p>

"We'll only be gone for a few days" said naruto, he looked up at the sky and saw a black hawk, it looked familiar "What's that? Isn't it kakashi sensei's?"

Sasuke looked up and saw the hawk "Oh yeah, he did say that he wanted to speak to me"

"Oh okay, I'll see you later then, I'm off to volunteer myself for any work in the village" explained naruto.

"Yeah see ya" said sasuke rather aloofly.

* * *

><p>Sasuke walked nonchalantly down the street of konoha towards where the hawk flew circling around a restaurant. Sasuke had been feeling strange these past few days, he felt that something strange was about to happen, but he could not put a finger on what it was, or who it was, that was coming. He saw kakashi standing outside the restaurant along with kurenai-sensei and Asuma-sensei who were also fellow jounins. Sasuke stopped and observed his sensei, he had a strange expression on his face, alarm, which also alerted sasuke, because he had never seen his sensei look like that before, but he approached them anyway.<p>

"Kakashi, what's up? Why did you want to meet with me" asked sasuke innocuously. Suddenly kakashi nodded to kurenai and asuma, and they vanished. Sasuke was completely unsettled now, he looked inside the restaurant but saw that the tables that were staring him in the face were empty of occupants.

"Its okay, I thought you would like a meal and a chat" replied kakashi nonplussed.

Sasuke looked at the name of the restaurant and scowled "I don't like sweet food"

"Oh sorry, where would you like to go then?" asked kakashi casually.

"To a dumpling store, I prefer savoury to sweet" said sasuke.

* * *

><p>"I was wondering what have you been doing on your break so far?" asked kakashi. They were currently inside the second most popular dumplingrestaurant in konoha sitting down at a small table by a window, where they could see people walking up and down the narrow street outside.

"Training and more training of course" replied sasuke as he took a bite out of his dumpling "When are you going to teach me another technique with the sharingan?"

"When you are ready sasuke, I've already told you that" said kakashi calmly.

"But I've mastered the chidori, I'm not a slow learner like naruto, I can master most techniques!" cried sasuke.

"I know, but you don't want to overdo things, there can be harsh consequences"

"Like what? I have the curse seal now, it makes everything easier" interjected sasuke.

"Do not tamper sasuke with the curse seal, I beg you, you don't want the sealing mark which I placed around it, to break" explained kakashi "Do not doubt your own innate abilities, you'll go far with them".

"But I haven't got itachi's eyes have i?" snapped sasuke "That is the most powerful sharingan isn't it!"

"But the way in which you get those eyes, we do not know how itachi came to possess it, let me do some more research into it" said kakashi.

"Ok, you do your research, I'll be training in the meantime!" said sasuke rudely and stood up and left the restaurant. Kakashi sat back and sighed. He then decided to see how asuma and kurenai were getting on with the strangers he had sent them to investigate, a few minutes earlier.

* * *

><p>"Ok pervy sage let's get going!" boomed naruto as he struggled with a massive travelling bag up, to his teacher who was standing outside the village gates.<p>

"Empty some of that load, we're only going to the next village, it isn't that far" demanded jiraiya.

"What oh come on! Do you know how long it took me to pack all this!" cried naruto.

"I can imagine do it at once" replied jiraiya. Naruto turned reluctantly back around and went to repack again.

* * *

><p>Sasuke descended down a dark corridor, at the end of which, there was a bolted old rusty black door. Sasuke unlocked it and placed the fire dish that was in his hand in its holder at the side of the room. He then sent fireballs to the empty fire dishes that lined the circular room. Immediately a shrine was lit up, there was a massive tablet at the front and pictures of men from the old uchiha clan all around the room. Sasuke went up to the shrine and read again the history of the uchiha clan. His sharingan was ablaze, in order to decipher the cryptic messages, he clenched his fists remembering the night of the massacre and kakashi's flippant answers to his insistence on more training.<p>

He felt his anger running through his veins when he remembered that man (he hardly called him a brother anymore) who murdered his brethren, and his mother and father. He was amazed at the amount of hatred that arose in him when he faced this hidden shrine. But his anger abated when he thought of naruto, of what he knew lay inside him, and which could help him resurrect his clan and maybe defeat his brother. But how can he possess the nine tails?.

"I just have to be patient, I will definitely avenge your death, mother, father, even if it means making a pact with the devil" whispered sasuke to the dark gloomy room.


	27. Chapter 27: sasuke vs Itachi

Chapter 27: Sasuke vs. Itachi

"Come on you've got to tell me!" cried naruto bouncing up and down around jiraiya "What technique are you going to teach me? The walking on fire, the walking on air, I need to know pervy sage!"

"Listen kid, if you don't shut up I won't teach you anything!" snapped jiraiya, to be honest as soon as they stepped out of the leaf village naruto had been jumping about annoying the white haired man for hours, so now jiraiya was really getting annoyed.

"Hey how dare you tell me to shut up, you old pervert!" retorted naruto "Like you're such a big shot, I don't have to receive training from you, you know, you're not even qualified!"

"Excuse me, where do _you_ get off talking down to me young man, I've trained under the third hokage and I've trained the fourth hokage" said jiraiya offended.

"The fourth hokage, what!" said naruto astonished.

"That's right, I am one of the three legendary ninjas after all, the hermit of frog mountain, jiraiya, by the way that's my real name, not pervy sage" replied jiraiya.

There was silence whilst jiraiya walked nonchalantly pass naruto. Naruto stood in the same spot for ages then followed after his mentor.

"Listen perv – I mean jiraiya, or whatever your name is, I'm sorry I didn't know..., can I ask you a question? Why did you choose me to be your apprentice" said naruto.

"I chose you, because you remind me of the fourth hokage, that is all" said jiraiya offhandedly.

"I remind you – of the fourth" said naruto slowly then he let out an excited and happy yell, frightening jiraiya so much that the old man jumped in the air in fright.

"I'M AS STRONG AS THE FOURTH HOKAGE, YES YES YES!" cried naruto rotating his hands like an aeroplane and running in circles around jiraiya "I KNEW I WAS DESTINED FOR GREAT THINGS!"

"LISTENNNNNNNN!" yelled jiraiya stopping naruto from running around him "The only similarity between you and the fourth is your blonde hair, that's what I meant, not that you're as powerful as him, good grief!"

"But you admit you saw something in me, why else offer to train me" retorted naruto, his eyes screwed together in stubbornness.

Jiraiya sighed and looked up at the road sign that they had nearly just passed "We're nearly at the town now"

"So what was it like training under the third hokage jiraiya-sensei?" asked naruto.

"Training under the third, well it was not all that good at the beginning, he preferred the other legendary ninja, orochimaru, instead of me, I was sort of like the black sheep in the team" explained jiraiya.

"Orochimaru! You trained with orochimaru" stammered naruto.

"Yes orochimaru and tsunade, the famous legendary sannin" said jiraiya reminiscently.

"You were the black sheep, oh oh, did you pass the bell exercise?" asked naruto suddenly changing the subject.

"Not really, I – got tied up" said jiraiya becoming embarrassed.

"Its okay, I did too, seems like the ones that are going to be great, are the ones that are always tied up right!" said naruto trying to see the silver lining in the embarrassing tale.

"I must hand it to him, he is too cocky for his own good" thought jiraiya.

They made their way along the deserted road heading towards the village whose buildings they could see in the distance, they were unaware that they were being followed by the red cloudy cloaked figures who had been watching them from a cliff that overlooked the long road where they now travelled on.

* * *

><p>Sasuke had decided to check in on kakashi, there was a rumour that he had contracted food poisoning from the restaurant he had eaten in the previous night, and now he lay in bed, sick like a pig, sasuke knocked on his sensei's door but was surprised to see it already open. Asuma and kunerai were in the room with his sensei talking with him in hushed voices.<p>

"What is going on here?" asked sasuke suddenly becoming protective about his teacher; again he cursed naruto for rubbing his sensitive caring nature onto him.

"Its ok sasuke, we just came to check on kakashi" said kurenai soothingly. Suddenly sasuke was pushed out of the way by the door opening behind him, another jounin with black sunglasses on and spiky black hair came bursting into the room looking excited and panicked at the same time.

"Everyone is it true that itachi is back in konoha? What-What does he want with naruto, is kakashi okay?" asked the man.

Sasuke's memories immediately came flooding back, up til now he had only been able to deal with them in his family's private shrine but his brain starting to activate them; when he was being piggybacked around konoha on his brother's back when he was young, when he saw the dead bodies of his mother and father on the ground, surrounded by cold blood, seeing itachi's red sharingan eyes and going through the torment of his genjutsu. Sasuke had sweat on his face; he pushed past the man like a zombie heading back out of the apartments he was in.

"Naruto where are you?" thought sasuke to himself, he was suddenly scared for his best friend, he remembered the massacre, he did not want to see the same happen to naruto, he – itachi would not kill another of his loved ones. He hardly saw anything, his feet left and landed on buildings but he remained detached from it all, he latched onto the one thing to keep him focussed. His hatred for his brother and only his hatred.

He stopped off at naruto's favourite training spots, naruto's apartment, and the academy and lastly ichraku's where he miraculously had something to go by.

"I heard him and a bushy white haired man talking about going to the next village port to do some training" explained the ramen chef as he prepared some ramen for an impatient customer.

"Next village port got it, thanks old man!" cried sasuke and sprinted towards the main gates of konoha, he had no time to pack things or even go back to the apartments, itachi was probably already there as naruto had left hours ago.

"Here we are! The village port" announced jiraiya. They were in a smaller town than konoha, there were rows of different stalls selling food and even providing games with prizes to win "Looks like there's a festival".

"Pervy sage can I check it out?" asked naruto excitedly.

"Let's find a place to stay first" said jiraiya as he slowly looked around "Ah there's a place, come on".

They checked into a fairly decent hotel and just as they were about to go and check out the festival however, jiraiya spotted a beautiful girl with long black hair with a lovely hour glass figure walking just outside the hotel. She winked at jiraiya seductively and walked away.

"OOOOH lalala!" said jiraiya drooling slightly; beside him, naruto had the exact expression on his face too.

"I get her first pervy sage!" protested naruto.

"Not to be funny naruto, but you're a bit too young for her" said jiraiya

"You're a bit too old for her!" retorted naruto defensively.

"But I have the two things girls go for in a guy, the age and the experience" replied jiraiya "Now be a good boy and call it a night will ya!" and with that jiraiya zoomed out of the hotel and down the road after the girl.

"But...its still daytime" mumbled naruto.

* * *

><p>"I have the two things girls look for in a guy, age and experience" mimicked naruto as he sat on his hotel room bed, practising his shadow clone jutsu, he was trying to make enough clones to fill the whole room but so far he was not making progress. "If that is what girls go after, the world is ending".<p>

Sasuke's foot touched another rooftop and he used his chakra to propel himself through a forest onto the sandy road, he was using fast taijutsu speeds because he sensed that the village was close.

There was a knock. Naruto dispelled his jutsu, stretched and made his way towards the door.

"What is it now pervy sage, forgot something?" moaned naruto "I understand how you might need to put your false teeth to soak, but can't it wait!".

Naruto reached out, his hand touched the door knob and he turned the door.

Sasuke had arrived in the village, he ignored all the fesitivities that surrounded him and made his way towards the hotels. As he reached each hotel he asked the receptionist whether he or she had seen a white spiky haired man with a blonde kid, the replies were all negative. Sasuke was now very stressed that he could tell that his sharingan had been activated.

His heart was about to explode out his chest but he was not about to give up on his friend.

Meanwhile naruto had opened the door of his bedroom and saw the two cloaked figures, he saw immediately the man with the sharingan and his heart dropped, but rose again with anger.

"Itachi Uchiha!" growled naruto, the man called Itachi narrowed his eyes in confusion. Naruto sent a flying kick but itachi dodged it and so did his team mate who naruto did not know was there.

"Itachi how the hell does this runt know your name?" asked the man that looked like a shark.

"I do not know, naruto uzumaki you are coming with me" replied itachi calmly.

"Well you'll have to take me away in a coffin because there is no way I'm being taken away alive!" snarled naruto.

"Very well then" replied itachi nonchalantly.

"Naruto leave him to me!" shouted a voice. Both itachi, the shark man and naruto looked around and saw sasuke standing at the other end of the long corridor, his sharingan was activated and he had a furious look on his face.

"Oh come on, another brat? Here itachi I'll help you out a bit" groaned the shark man and he swung the massive sword in his hand just when naruto was about to accumulate his chakra, and suddenly naruto was zapped of his chakra in seconds.

"What the hell, sasuken quick my chakra!" cried naruto.

"Who is this kid itachi? He has the sharingan, I thought all uchihas were dead" snapped the shark man.

"He is my little brother" replied itachi.

"Itachi uchiha" hissed sasuke "I have waited for this day for years, I've done what you asked me to do, I have held onto my hatred and now you die today!".

Sasuke thrust his hands out in front of him and began to make his chidori.

"Chidori… that is futile" whispered itachi.

"DIEEEEEEEE!" screamed sasuke and sprinted towards the man who had killed his breathren, his vision went red all he could see was itachi's face, the same face that had slaughtered all his loved ones, but everything went immediately wrong.

Itachi lifted his hands and swatted the chidori away from him as if it was a fly, the blast of the attack went crashing through the wall beside him, there was a massive hole in the wall instead of way it should have been, in his chest.

For a while both brothers looked at each other, it was the first time in years they had seen each other face to face. Itachi's emotionless eyes bored into sasukes', sasuke's furious ones stared at him, but itachi came back to earth very quickly.

"I'm sorry baby brother but I have no interest in you at the moment, only naruto" said itachi and he bent sasuke's hands forward rupturing the tendons in the wrist.

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" roared sasuke in pain; he ripped his hand away from itachi and collapsing in pain on the ground holding his injured wrist between his legs.

"SASUKE!" screamed naruto, he made to lunge at itachi but the shark man stepped in front of his comrade, his sword about to descent on the blonde ready to kill him.

Suddenly a burst of chakra erupted in between them sending naruto flying away from the shark man, and itachi, leaping away from the chaos.

There appeared a toad, a little smaller of course than gamabunta with jiraiya standing beside it, the toad held the shark man's sword aloft. The shark man not looking impressed looked at the man in front of him.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't lord jiraiya" said the man.

"And you are, if I'm correct, kisame hoshigaki" replied jiraiya "One of the assassins of the mist".

"I'm so honoured" said kisame.

Jiraiya looked from kisame to itachi "I should have known, such a powerful genjutsu could not have been done so perfectly without an uchiha behind it".

"So you saw through Itachi's genjutsu then? Impressive, you are as powerful as they say" laughed kisame.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, Itachi, putting an innocent person under a genjutsu like that" said jiraiya "I'm going to dispose of the pair of you, immediately".

"NO!" shouted a strained voice. Jiraiya looked past kisame and saw sasuke stand up. He had his back to itachi but he continued, speaking to jiraiya "Let me do this, I must".

"Sasuke you can do this, put that bastard in his grave for doing what he did to your family!" cried naruto "Use your cursed seal if you have to!".

"Yes I guess I could" said sasuke turning back to itachi "This is our fight now itachi, bring it on".

"Very well then" said itachi.

Sasuke closed his eyes and let the curse seal take over. He suddenly felt power surge through his body, he wondered if he could use a one hand seal in order to activate his sharingan. But he was shocked to find, when he had opened his eyes that itachi was nowhere to be seen.

"Sasuke behind you!" yelled naruto. Sasuke was too slow itachi had sent a knee into sasuke's stomach when he turned around. Before sasuke could fly backwards, itachi had grabbed him by the shoulders roughly and kneed him three times in the stomach hard and sent a powerful punch to his face. Sasuke flew backwards and his back slammed against the wall at the end of the corridor.

"Sasuke get up!" cried naruto.

Sasuke slowly got back to his feet using a technique that naruto used whenever he got winded. He then used his fast taijutsu speed to run around itachi. Itachi stood still not at all fazed. Suddenly sasuke made to attack him but itachi side stepped, swung sasuke around by the scuff of his neck and sent him slamming back towards the wall again.

Sasuke wanted to try again but itachi was ready for it, he flash stepped right up to sasuke and pinned him against the wall. Sasuke was tired, his hand hurt and the curse seal had deactivated when he had made up his mind not to fight anymore with it.

"That's right sasuke, stop fighting, you cannot defeat me, you don't have enough hate" whispered itachi in sasuke's ear. The hot feel of his breath on his neck revulted sasuke, he wanted so much to stick a kunai right through itachi's head but he just could not.

"Let's have some fun" whispered itachi and he leaned away from sasuke and slowly began to open his eyes, sasuke had no defence against what was coming now.

Naruto waited with jiraiya and kisame at the end of the corridor. They had come to a standstill. Naruto wanted so much to join in and help his friend but jiraiya had stopped him when he had tried.

Suddenly he heard the heart-breaking sobbing of his best friend moment's later. The screams tore through naruto's soul, he could not bare it anymore.

"SASUKE, STOP IT YOU DEVIL!" roared naruto and sprinted past kisame towards itachi. Itachi was still in the middle of doing his technique so when naruto sent a punch to his head knocking him sideways it came as a surprise. Itachi, red eyes blazing in anger turned to naruto was about to put him under the same technique, when he saw the corridor walls and the floor beneath his feet erupt with a bubbling pink fleshy substance. Looking at the substance through his sharingan Itachi knew immediately what was coming.

"Kisame" whispered itachi, it was a signal of forfeit and both kisame and itachi sprinted down the corridor rather than deal with naruto.

Naruto checked sasuke over, he had his eyes open in shock, he was unaware of his surroundings.

"Naruto, are you okay? Did they hurt you" asked Jiraiya walking over to his student.

"No but we need to get him to the hospital, quick!" cried naruto trying to pick sasuke up.

"He needs special attention, he is currently in a psychological coma" explained jiraiya "No medical person in konoha can help him".

"But there've got to! We can't leave him like this" cried naruto, tears springing surprisingly to his eyes.

"There may be a way naruto, for us to help him, come with me to tanzaki town, to find this woman" said jiraiya suddenly.

"Oh pervy sage, this isn't the time to be lusting over girls! Why aren't you ever serious" snapped naruto.

"No she is a medical ninja that – FOR HEAVEN'S BLOODY SAKE!" began jiraiya, a figure had leapt over naruto's head and sent a flying kick right at jiraiya's face. Naruto took out a kunai but lowered it when he saw the person who had appeared on the scene.

"Bushy…brow?" said naruto.

* * *

><p>"GAIIIIIi!" screamed jiraiya as he lay on the ground holding his nose. It was Gai who had produced the attack.<p>

"I'm so sorry jiraiya, please accept apologies" sobbed gai bowing respectfully to jiraiya.

"What's happened to the uchiha boy?" asked Gai as he gave jiraiya a tissue to wipe his bloody nose.

"He saw itachi and they fought against each other" replied jiraiya "He lost of course and now he is in some kind of coma".

"Like kakashi, itachi must be very powerful, the medical ninjas back in the village haven't been able to bring kakashi back around either" explained Gai.

"What's happened to kakashi-sensei, is he alright?" asked naruto abruptly.

"He'll be fine as soon as we find someone to help us" said Gai.

"Have no fear Gai, I'm on my way to bring back the legendary medic ninja tsuanade" said jiraiya

"Lady tsunade, that's brilliant, with her expertise in medical ninjutsu the others will be cured" said Gai.

"You take sasuke and naruto back to konoha I'll go on and find tsunade" said jiraiya.

"NO!" said a voice. Gai and Jiraiya looked at naruto who had put sasuke in the recovery position and was now looking seriously at the two adults in front of him, he continued "I want to find this tsunade person with you pervy sage and go after itachi".

"Naruto think about what you're saying, if fighting itachi was that simple your sensei would have finished him off" said jiraiya sternly "You are just a genin".

"But I'm not JUST any normal genin jiraiya, I am the container of the nine tailed fox, I'll use the powers of the beast and put itachi in his grave for what he did to sasuke" cried naruto

"But you barely can control it properly, do you want to die, be patient and train hard and one day you and sasuke will defeat itachi" snapped jiraiya.

Naruto did not say anything for a while but nodded in understanding; Gai picked sasuke up and flung him over his shoulders.

"Tell sasuke when he wakes up Gai, that it wasn't his fault that he could not defeat itachi, tell him that he needs to be patient, build up his strength, and that when I return we'll double our training if we have to" explained naruto.

Gai nodded and bade both jiraiya and naruto goodbye, and sprinted away, leaving them alone in the destroyed corridor.

"Come on naruto let's get going" said jiraiya.

"This tsunade person better be as good as she makes out to be" said naruto.

"Believe me she is good, she is one of the legenary sannin after all, and has helped out in the ninja wars countless times" replied Jiraiya "But finding her is going to be difficult".

"Why?" asked naruto

"Over the years she has built up quite a reputation, she's an addictive gambler, and is always on the run from people who are chasing her down over her gambling debts" explained jiraiya "So today she is commonly referred to as the legendary sucker ninja"

"Huh" said naruto in confusion screwing up his eyes.

* * *

><p>Itachi and kisame sprinted across a large river away from the village, kisame looked back and realised that itachi was losing his speed.<p>

"Itachi hurry up, we need to reach the border before they send out ninja to track us down!" snapped kisame.

"That last jutsu and the one I used on sasuke… it has zapped most of my energy, I need to rest" gasped itachi as he deactivated his sharingan.

"Well we'll rest as soon as we cross the border" replied kisame as he draped one of itachi's arms around his neck "But seriously Itachi, you have never been this weak after a fight".

"It was that nine tailed boy, he interrupted my technique…. It left me disorientated" stammered itachi as kisame carried him away from the leaf village.

"Then don't overdo that eye technique baka" hissed kisame "I'm not carrying you around all the way back to the hideout".

"Believe me kisame, I'll be okay after an hour" said itachi smiling slightly. But his eyes narrowed and he thought to himself "I never expected them to be so close"

* * *

><p>THE END<p>

*READ MY PROFILE DAILY FOR UPDATES ON THIS STORY"


	28. Chapter 28: Lady Tsunade

Chapter 28: Lady Tsunade

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed a voice behind a steel door. Kabuto opened the door into the room and saw a man lying on the ground beside a king sized bed, a pool of blood around his head.

"Another one orochimaru-sama?" asked kabuto sarcastically "Honestly do you want any servants left, to attend to your injuries or not".

"Stop patronising me kabuto and give me some more medicine!" roared orochimaru "And have you located the person I asked for?"

"Yes I have, luckily I have some loyal contacts in that certain city, they have just caught sight of our dear old friend" explained kabuto.

"What town?" asked orochimaru abruptly.

"Tanzaku city" replied kabuto.

There was a silence, and then orochimaru giggled sardonically "It will be such a pleasure seeing my old friend tsunade again, get my proper garments kabuto, and be prepared to travel in an hour's time"

"Yes orochimaru-sama" said kabuto

As he was about to leave orochimaru called him back.

"And kabuto, if you ever patronise me again, I'll have you the same way as this idiot on the ground" sneered orochimaru. Kabuto glared at orochimaru for a while and nodded in understanding.

He then left the room leaving orochimaru in his gloomy solitude.

* * *

><p>"So pervy sage, what does this tsunade woman look like anyway?" asked naruto as they continued their travel towards the popular port town where they hoped to gather some information on tsunade's whereabouts.<p>

"I guess you've abandoned saying my proper name now" said jiraiya sadly.

"Yes I have, since you wouldn't let me help sasuke" replied naruto as he had a flashback where they were in the corridor watching sasuke getting beaten up by itachi whilst the blonde had been held back by jiraiya's summoned frog.

"I'm sorry naruto, but seriously itachi was too powerful, he would have killed you and taken his prize" replied jiraiya.

"And what prize is that exactly?" asked naruto immediately halting.

"The nine tailed fox" replied jiraiya.

"WHAT? - What do they want with this fox spirit?" asked naruto appalled.

"The power it contains, you may not know this kid, but the nine tailed fox is indeed the king of all the mythical beasts" explained Jiraiya.

"The king, gosh and I thought it was a little powerless fox" replied naruto "Or I had this crazy idea that the akatsuki saw something in me and wanted to get to know me".

"No, they don't" interjected jiraiya abruptly making naruto curse underneath his breath at the rebuke.

"So where the heck are we going then pervy sage?" snapped naruto when they came to a sign post and stopped. Without speaking jiraiya pointed to the sign and naruto saw the name for the popular port town where many merchants sold their wares. If there was ever a place to search for information, that was where most village folk went. The merchants travelled all over the world, heard rumours and stories naruto could have kicked himself for asking such a stupid question.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile as naruto and jiraiya were travelling towards tanzaku city to find tsunade, orochimaru and kabuto, had left their hideout and had started their own journey towards the city as well, whilst Gai carried sasuke back to konoha in order to get him some kind of emergency medical attention.<p>

As Gai travelled down the streets with sasuke over his shoulder, there was a girlish scream and sakura came sprinting towards him.

"Gai-sensei what's happened to sasuke?" gasped sakura.

"Well-err, he fell over and got knocked out cold, I think he may have serious concussion" invented Gai immediately.

Sakura was taken aback at sasuke's apparent carelessness for a minute "Was he climbing trees again or something?".

"Yes" said Gai mechanically.

"May I come with you to the hospital, I'll never hold it down if something happens to him" begged sakura.

"Sure come along quickly though, the later we leave him in this kind of situation, the more danger he is put in" said Gai.

The nurse at the hospital checked sasuke over. She used a light and shone it in the boy's eyes checking his pupils. Then she took gai to one side so that sakura could not hear them.

"This isn't a concussion sir, what do you take me for?" hissed the nurse.

"It's okay, master jiraiya and naruto are going to find a specialist to help him" said Gai silently to the nurse, he pointed to sakura "I just had to make something up, otherwise I'll be carrying two people here not just one".

"Alright I hope they get back here as soon as possible though" the nurse replied "Before we lose both of them"

"Both of them?" questioned Gai

The nurse gestured towards another bed at the end of the ward "We have kakashi hatake here as well- he is in the same situation"

"Master Jiraiya will not let us down, he is one of the legendary sannin after all" said Gai passionately.

* * *

><p>"Okay Naruto let's split up, I'll search for tsunade around the outskirts and you look in the city, we'll meet back here in half an hour's time" said jiraiya. They had finally reached the port city and were in the main village square. There were stalls selling clothes and all sorts of food, as well as, stalls displaying games for little kids.<p>

"Oh pervy sage, can I at least have something to eat first? Before we begin to search?" asked naruto.

Jiraiya looked at the boy's bright, hungry blue eyes and sighed "Well alright but be quick about it, while you're eating I'll make a start with trying to dig up some information"

"OKAY!" yelled naruto excitedly, he quickly dug into his ninja pouch and brought out a frog wallet, there was a lot of money inside it, so much that some notes were escaping from the clip keeping it locked up. Jiraiya was completely taken aback and immediately grabbed the frog wallet out of naruto's hands.

"OI MAN! WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL, YOU BIG PERV!" roared naruto jumping up and down, trying to take his frog wallet back from the taller man.

"Naruto listen! You cannot go around with all this money in your possession, haven't you heard of the 3 Manhood prohibitions!" said jiraiya sternly.

"No! Is it a way of making you stronger?" asked naruto naively.

"Of course it will make you stronger, stronger in body, mind and spirit!" said jiraiya dramatically.

"DON'T JUST STAND THERE PERVY SAGE, TELL ME, TELL ME!" cried naruto jumping up and down in excitement "You know that I want to get stronger believe it!"

"Rule number 1: No alcohol before the age of 18!" said jiraiya, naruto nodded, staring at jiraiya as if he was an angel sent from the heavens.

"Rule number 2: Stay away from loose and bad women" continued jiraiya "And lastly learn to save and spend equally".

"Save and spend equally on what?" asked naruto confused.

"On money, do you realise how much money you'll lose if brigands and thieves got their hands on this wallet? I'll hold onto it, just to keep it safe" explained jiraiya pointing to the frog wallet.

"But I've been on an "A" rank mission, fought against zabuza, the demon of the hidden mist, I can fight off the few lousy robbers!" protested naruto making a grab for the wallet again.

Jiraiya lifted the wallet a little higher, out of naruto's reach and then replied "But just… to make sure I'll keep it on me, we may need this money if we cannot find tsunade here - and I don't want you to get carried away and to spend all of it".

"Oh fine! At least give us some cash so I can get some ramen" sighed naruto, holding out his hand. Jiraiya turned around so that naruto could not see him and sneakily gave the blonde one note in his hand.

"OI!" snapped naruto, but it was too late, the pervy old sannin had vanished before naruto could say "Wait a minute".

"That stupid old perv, how the hell does he expect me to survive on one note?" asked naruto under his breath, he stopped near a noodle stand; he knocked his fist on the counter in order to get the store owner's attention and bought a bowl of noodles to go.

He sat down on a bench and ate his noodles, then he decided to hunt for people who might have some information about this tsunade person. He must have asked for this woman, tsunade, about 30 times, and each time the response was the same, a shake of the head, sometimes friendly, sometimes impatient, in the end naruto decided to go to the meeting place where the pervy sage had told him to wait, when he had finished a thorough search of the town. Hours passed and people were dispersing from the festivities, and the square that he was in, was emptying of people. An impatient naruto decided to go and find his master in the end. He looked all over the port town but he could not find jiraiya anywhere. Thinking deeply, he tried to think about where his pervy sensei could have got to. He snapped his fingers, turned to a local man that was passing by and asked him.

"Excuse me old man, can you tell me where the nearest brothel is?"

* * *

><p>Naruto could not believe his eyes, they were literally on stalks, when he found out his assumption had been correct, there was jiraiya, sat languidly on a posh sofa surrounded by half-dressed ladies in a gloomy lit brothel, he had a bottle of alcohol in one hand and naruto turned bright red when he saw that his own frog wallet was empty of cash!.<p>

"Pervy sage" whispered naruto, under his breath. He then smiled slyly and began skipping over dramatically to his sensei.

"Naruto what the-!" began jiraiya.

"FATHER PLEASE WILL YOU COME HOME, MUMMY IS TALKING BOUT KILLING HERSELF BECAUSE YOU DO NOT LOVE HER AND YOU KEEP KISSING OTHER GIRLS!" cried naruto tears streaking down his face; he was indeed a good actor. The women immediately vanished from jiraiya's side, and now jiraiya was alone to face naruto's wrath.

"Naruto you have to stop doing that? I have a reputation to uphold" cried jiraiya.

"Forget about your stupid reputation, what about the 3 manhood prohibitions! You are flirting with bad women and you are not saving your money!" snapped naruto waving the frog wallet in the air so that jiraiya could see it, and ignoring the evil glares shooting at him from the half dressed females around him "Or, in all honesty, you are spending MY money! Do you know how long it took me to get all this!"

"Please kid calm down you're making a scene" whispered jiraiya trying to hide himself from the brothel owner.

"Calm this!" snarled naruto and threw the frog wallet at his sensei, jiraiya thought that the blonde was going to throw a bottle, or a kunai, and instinctively swatted the object away, suddenly there was a yell of annoyance and both naruto and jiraiya turned and saw two men at the doorway of the brothel.

One was wearing a posh looking black suit while the other (presumably the man's bodyguard) had shades, short black hair that stuck up and was wearing a grey suit.

"OI What do you two pricks think you're doing? Do you not know who you threw that at" snapped the grey suit man.

"I'm sorry mister" began naruto.

"This is a jounin from the land of lilies, a feared and dangerous ninja who could kill you, brat, in two moves!" shouted the grey suit man.

"A jounin from what village did you say?" asked jiraiya laughing slightly at the idiocy of the statement.

"Don't you dare laugh, who do you think you are old man" said the one in the black suit "You must want me to shut that mouth of yours for good".

"Try your best" said jiraiya yawning slightly.

"That's it" said the black suit man and lunged towards jiraiya, jiraiya gently pushed naruto to one side and naruto saw that his other hand, on the palm of it, was a spiralling ball of chakra, just as the stranger was about to attack jiraiya got up and thrust the ball into the man's abdomen sending him rocketing backwards into the courtyard wall, outside the brothel. The bodyguard yelped in fear and quickly ran off leaving his comrade alone.

"You are… not just any ninja are you?" gasped the man.

"No I am not, and the next time I hear about you bullying others, I'll be back to finish you off" replied jiraiya sternly, he turned to an amazed looking naruto and added "Naruto let's go, the person whom we are looking for, is not in this city".

* * *

><p>"WOW pervy sage, I never thought you had it in you, what was that jutsu? You just have to teach me it!" cried naruto as they set off again on the road.<p>

"Luckily for you, I plan on teaching it to you once we reach the next village, I have a feeling that tsunade won't return with us so easily, so we have enough time to kill" explained jiraiya.

"What is the name of the jutsu pervy sage? And what level" asked naruto.

"This is a A rank jutsu, invented originally by the fourth hokage himself" said jiraiya

Naruto stopped walking immediately, looked up at the sky and he repeated the name he had heard "The fourth hokage huh".

"That's right, so it will be very hard to learn, it took him at least 5 years to perfect it" replied jiraiya.

"I'll learn it in 5 days" said naruto seriously.

Jiraiya nearly lost his footing and tripped when he heard naruto's promise, but he smiled at naruto's willpower to succeed.

"Ok I'll hold you to that bet then" answered jiraiya "But I must tell you, it took _me_ 5 years to learn it and I'm one of the legendary sannin".

"And _I'm_ naruto uzumaki, I make my own targets to work towards and you're forgetting I never go back on my words" said naruto passionately and he began walking slowly past his teacher.

Jiraiya sighed and said "Very well, very well" then he added "Let's stop here for a while then".

"Huh what for?" asked naruto.

Jiraiya took the bag that he was carrying off his shoulder and placed it onto the floor; naruto looked inside the bag and saw that it was stacked with water balloons.

"Err Pervy sage, are you feeling okay?" asked naruto.

"If you can master the first stage of that technique I've just shown you by the time we reach tanzaku town, I'll treat you to as much ramen as you want" said jiraiya.

"REALLY! Oh cool, ok then, what do I have to do then?" said naruto eagerly waiting to learn the basics of the technique.

"Ok first thing you need to do is to pop the balloons, using chakra and only chakra from the palm of your hand" replied jiraiya, taking one balloon out of the bag "rotate the water inside the balloon until it pops, releasing chakra from the hands is a particularly hard thing to accomplish by any ninja, usually only a jounin level ninja or someone like me can do it correctly"

He demonstrated quickly, one moment all both teacher and student could see was the red balloon on top of jiraiya's right palm, then it exploded, the water squirting everywhere, naruto gasped when he saw the last remains of the blue chakra visible on jiraiya's hand, then it was gone.

"Cool I'll have this done in no time!" shouted naruto.

"Cool - we'll take an hour's break while we travel so you can practice it every day, I assure you, you'll get it by the time we reach tanzaku town" said jiraiya.

Naruto exhausted his brain power day and night trying to pop the balloon, every time he thought his chakra was so fast that he knew that the balloon had to burst, the balloon would remain the same. It took him four days before jiraiya (who had been watching from afar) shouted.

"I'll give you a hint, or a riddle in fact, how does a cat play with a ball?"

"What kind of riddle is that?" snapped naruto looking red faced back at his master who was currently relaxing against a tree.

"Just trying to help" said jiraiya and stretched himself and fell back into his nap.

Naruto practiced every single minute of the day, even when they were walking towards tanzaku city. .

* * *

><p>Fortunately before they came to the second city they came upon a roadside restaurant - whilst jiraiya grabbed a drink, naruto settled onto a bench and began to practice again, the balloon in his hand fell a minute later and went rolling across the sandy ground, naruto stood up slowly and was about to grab the balloon when he saw a tabby cat run over and began rolling the balloon between its paws, back and forth, until suddenly the balloon exploded. Naruto had shielded his face but he experienced an epiphany in that moment. He immediately understood the riddle the pervy sage had been repeating to him the past few days.<p>

"Pervy sage, pervy sage!" cried naruto when the old man returned to him "I understand what to do now!"

"Well go on then" replied jiraiya.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" cried naruto, a shadow clone of himself appeared at his side, the real naruto held out his hand with the balloon on top of it and his shadow clone began to prod the balloon quickly all around, naruto could immediately feel the water inside churning and rotating at incredible speeds, all naruto could think to do was focus his chakra on keeping the balloon steady. Immediately the balloon exploded showering both of them in water.

"WOW kid incredible! You have mastered the first level of the rasengan, which is rotation" replied jiraiya giving naruto the thumbs up.

"How many levels are there?" gasped naruto.

"At least 3" said jiraiya patting a depressed naruto on the back "Don't worry though, I'll teach the next parts when we stop to rest".

They two days away from the nearest city so jiraiya decided to have a rest before they carried on.

"Ok while we're staying in the city, I want you to continue with your training, you have learnt the rotation side of the technique, the other level is all about focus and concentration" explained jiraiya.

"What's the last part about then?" asked naruto.

"Huh you have to learn the second part first" said jiraiya.

"I know but I want to know what the last part is" said naruto stubbornly.

"The last part is about impact" answered jiraiya annoyed.

"Cool okay, carry on then pervy sage" said naruto.

"Now you know how to pop the balloon because you mastered the act of rotation, now all you have to do is focus on maintaining that rotation until you connect the rasengan with your target, here give me your hand" continued jiraiya.

Naruto held his hand out sheepishly to jiraiya, the old man got a red pen marker out of his garments and made a circle in the middle of naruto's palm.

"Use this mark as a centre for you to concentrate on while doing your rasengan" said jiraiya

Jiraiya then demonstrated by holding out his right palm, he said "First to succeed with this technique you must be able to release chakra and rotate it in your hand at incredible speeds" a small spiralling ball of chakra appeared on jiraiya's palm, he added "Then he need to maintain the rotation by focussing on keeping the chakra rotating"

jiraiya walked towards a nearby tree and rammed the technique into it, jiraiya pushed harder so it went through the tree - as he did this he said "And lastly, impact, using your own physical power you need to push the rasengan right through your intended target!"

Naruto gasped at the result, the tree had been snapped right off its roots.

"Wow I can't wait to get started!" cried naruto excitedly.

"That's the spirit, now hurry up and get started, before we reach the city gates, I'll be testing you" said jiraiya "You have 3 more days".

Naruto upped his training, he rose extra early before his sensei, to practice the rasengan and was the last to lie down at night, he would either train again in the afternoon or take a quick nap, on the last few days before they reached another small city. Finally naruto felt confident as he blasted his rasengan through another tree.

* * *

><p>"Come on then pervy sage, bring it on!" said naruto boldly jumping up and down eagerly, it was the last day of naruto's training and they were 15 minutes away from tanzaku city.<p>

"Ok then" said jiraiya, he made a shadow clone of himself startling naruto.

"Oi wait just one second! Why ain't you fighting?" asked naruto furiously.

"Because I don't want to ruin my handsome face" said jiraiya sarcastically "Rasengan is a very dangerous technique, you can kill someone with that thing".

Naruto ignored his teacher's sarcastic wit and turned instead to the shadow clone in front of him "Alright here goes!"

Naruto performed the shadow clone jutsu again, the clone began to make a circular motion over naruto's palm with its hand, suddenly, and amazing both jiraiya's shadow clone and the real person, they all saw the ball of blue chakra rotating wildly on naruto's palm, just as it seemed like the rasengan would faze out, it didn't, it became stronger and bigger, naruto sprinted towards jiraiya's clone and sent it straight through the abdomen of the clone. The clone immediately exploded revealing the shocked face of jiraiya.

"I-told-you-naruto-uzumaki-never-goes-back-on-his-words" stammered naruto gasping for breath.

"You've done well kid, very well" said jiraiya clapping him proudly on the back.

* * *

><p>Back in konoha, Sasuke was still in a dreamlike state, it was like he was in the heavens, and the place he found himself in was foggy, until he descended once again into his hell. The hell only reserved for him, he was once again running through the uchiha clan compound, calling for his parents, his grandparents, his aunts, uncles and cousins, but nobody was answering. He saw the smears of blood caking the walls and the floors, and then suddenly he found himself standing in front of a familiar door.<p>

The mature sasuke wanted to stop his dreamlike self from opening that door, but his body moved on his own volition and he saw that he had tiny ghost white hands instead of the hands he had now, these hands were opening that dreaded door, the door slowly opened into a pitch black room, with one window, the light from the moon pouring down into the middle of the floor where two bodies sat kneeling facing the door in which the small sasuke had entered. There was itachi standing over the kneeling figures of his parents.

"MOTHER! FATHER!" screamed the young sasuke.

"You are weak little brother and now you will pay for that weakness" replied itachi and he brought his sword down killing his own parents.

"ITACHII! STOP ITTTT!" roared sasuke at the top of his young lungs, the scene changed and he was on his knees screaming whilst dark figures began collapsing around him, all under the murderous glare of the brother who had changed into a demon overnight.

This dream went on for hours and hours and sasuke tried desperately to wake up, he suddenly heard a voice coming through the abyss of his nightmare, after a while, it was a young boy's voice, it sounded familiar, it was naruto's.

"I'll help you get your revenge sasuke, I promise it, we'll both put itachi in his grave" said the voice. Suddenly sasuke remembered the day naruto said that and the following days spent with the kyuubi host as well, happy memories, the nightmare lessened when he brought these memories to the surface of his mind and finally he was back to reality, staring at a white ceiling.

He continued staring at the ceiling, breathing heavily for a while but he was sucked back into his depression once more, he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep. Sakura was sleeping upright in a chair next to his bed, she had been there half the day praying for sasuke to return to her, but there had been no improvement thus far. She did not see sasuke open his eyes, but the uchiha had been waking and going back into a stupor all day.

* * *

><p>Naruto and Jiraiya entered tanzaku city. Jiraiya had been told in the previous village they had visited, that the legendary sucker had been seen in this city, and jiraiya had a feeling that they were indeed in the perfect place.<p>

"Why do you say that?" asked naruto sleepily. He felt tired and hoped that this city was the correct one; jiraiya, however, did not need to reply because there was an explosion in the far distance, where a castle stood, and a crowd of people were running for their lives away from the chaos.

"You there!" cried jiraiya spotting a youth in the crowd "What is going on?".

"A snake sir, a great big purple snake has just appeared!" gasped the young man and ran off.

"Naruto she's here, let's go!" yelled jiraiya and sprinted off in the direction of the explosion.

"Wait up you perv!" cried naruto following his teacher.

They came upon the destruction, there was no sign of the snake or the woman that they wanted to meet, jiraiya arrived at the scene before an exhausted naruto, who placed his hands on his knees trying to steady his breathing.

"Where-is-she?" gasped naruto slowly.

"I do not know it seems we have just missed her" said jiraiya.

"Oh fuc-!" began naruto.

"Language" interrupted jiraiya sternly.

Naruto became silent whilst jiraiya observed the wall that had a great big massive hole in it.

"Let's stay in this village and rest for tonight, its getting dark" said jiraiya.

"Fine" said naruto relieved.

They booked a room but before naruto could go off to bed, jiraiya touched him on the shoulder.

"Let's go for a meal, you must be hungry and it's my way of saying sorry for what happened today" said jiraiya.

"Oh okay, where are we going?" asked naruto.

* * *

><p>They arrived outside a bar moments later. Naruto gave jiraiya an evil look.<p>

"Pervy sage, I'm not 18, I'm not allowed in a place like this" said naruto gritting his teeth trying to rein in his frustration.

"What do you take me for? An irresponsible old man, just munch on the appetizers" said jiraiya, a little affronted.

"Well you did kind of spend off all my mission money" whispered naruto under his breath.

As soon as they entered the bar, the man in charge cried "Welcome!"

While naruto acknowledged the greeting enthusiastically, jiraiya did not, he had his eyes on a person sitting at a table two tables down from the entrance, naruto looked to see where his teacher was looking, and saw the young attractive face, big breasts and curvy figure of the lady who the pervy sage could not take his eyes off.

"Oh come on pervy sage, you're not here to meet a chick are you?" asked naruto.

"Not really, but I've seen the woman who we are looking for, TSUNADE!" cried jiraiya and waving bounded over to the table with naruto following grudgingly behind him.

"Jiraiya! What are you doing here" cried tsunade gobsmacked; she was sitting with a young girl with short black hair who was wearing a purple kimono and a small pig that seemed to be munching on carrots.

"I'm actually here to see you tsunade" said jiraiya.

"You as well" whispered tsunade.

"What was that?" asked jiraiya.

"It's alright, and why are you searching for me? And whose the brat?" asked tsunade.

"Oi lady who are you calling a brat?" asked naruto aggressively. He had dealt with a lot of things today and just wanted to go to sleep so the remark from the big busty female did not seat well with him at the moment.

Jiraiya held naruto back quickly and replied "I'll tell you who he is later; right now we need to talk about important stuff".

"Go on" said tsunade as she played with a card in front of her, she had a finger in the centre of the card and was twirling it around on the table.

"May I have a game with you?" asked jiraiya.

"You can, but I know I'll beat you" replied tsunade, jiraiya smiled at the challenge and began shifting a small deck of cards in his hands.

"You might not know about this tsunade, but the leaf village was attacked just a few months ago, and-err sarutobi-sensei died" said jiraiya abruptly.

"So it is true?" asked tsunade abruptly.

Jiraiya looked at her seriously. "It is. Who told you before I did?"

"Nobody, I had heard a rumour on the wind that's all, and what does that have to do with me?" said tsunade quickly.

"It has everything to do with us, he was our sensei after all" said jiraiya surprised "The village needs a new hokage tsunade".

Naruto was taken aback at hearing that the woman in front of him had been on the same team as his perverted teacher. He looked at the big breasts, lithe figure and thought "She is well fit for a 70/80 year old" But then he thought "There is no way she's 80! She's too hot, shouldn't she have crutches and a hunched back?"

He looked at jiraiya looking for an explanation but his teacher had his eyes focussed on tsunade and only tsunade.

"So what do you want me to do? Find another hokage for you" asked tsunade rudely.

"The village chose you to take the tittle of fifth hokage" answered jiraiya abruptly, putting down his cards.

"No… the game does not work like that" said tsunade ignoring what jiraiya just said.

"Tsunade are you listening?" snapped jiraiya "You are the granddaughter of the first hokage and a powerful candidate for the role, now what is your answer?"

"No I don't want it" replied tsunade abruptly.

Both naruto and jiraiya were stunned into silence.

"Tsunade, did you just say no?" asked jiraiya.

"You heard me" said tsunade putting down her cards and looking jiraiya seriously in the eyes.

"Read my lips, I-do-not-want-to-become-the-fifth-hokage"


	29. Chapter 29: The cursed Necklace

Chapter 29: The Cursed necklace

"I want an explanation tsunade" said jiraiya calmly sitting back in his seat.

"My reason is simple, I believe that being the hokage is a job for idiots!" said tsunade "Who wants to become a hokage? Who wants to put their life on the line, for a stupid village, following a silly ideology?"

"How dare she" thought naruto, he clenched his fists breaking the chop sticks held in them. Jiraiya could sense naruto's immediate anger and he placed a calm hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Tsunade you have changed, a lot, what has happened to you? The tsunade I knew would have done anything for her village, you even helped out in the ninja wars" said jiraiya miserably.

"That was a long time ago jiraiya, people change over time" said tsunade "I have been in the world for ages and have come to the conclusion that people that risk their lives for others are weak, stupid ninja".

"THAT'S IT!" roared naruto hitting the table with his fists and standing up. There was a silence around the table, tsunade's companions looked shocked and jiraiya turned to look up at naruto trying to meet the blonde's eyes to tell him to calm down but the blonde was not calming down.

"That's what brat?" asked tsunade smiling at naruto, the smile never reaching her blue eyes.

"If you continue to insult the memory of our beloved third hokage, I'll have no choice but to silence you forever!" cried naruto pointing a finger at tsunade "You have no right to sit there smiling, whilst that man risked everything to bring peace to my village, before you judge others, get off your bloody backside and go and fight on a real battlefield!"

"I have fought MANY battles, you little squirt!" sneered tsunade standing up to face naruto off "Lots of battles before you were out of nappies, so I suggest you sit down before I silence YOU forever!"

"Tell me something, when does that weird aging jutsu you're wearing, wear off?" hissed naruto gesticulating at tsunade's massive breasts to emphasise his point "There is no way a 80 year old is this fit!"

"THAT'S IT, OUTSIDE!" shouted tsunade her face turning immediately ugly and her face going bright red.

"Lady tsunade please, he is just a boy!" pleaded tsunade's companion.

"I challenge you to a fight little boy" said tsunade ignoring her friend.

"And I accept believeeee it!" snapped naruto.

"Naruto" said jiraiya sternly.

"Hold on a minute, are you naruto uzumaki?" asked tsunade astonished.

Naruto did not respond so jiraiya nodded.

"Even better, follow me" said tsunade and left the table and the bar.

Naruto turned to jiraiya "I'm ready, pervy sage believe it!"

"I hope you know what your doing" said jiraiya.

(B)

They all stood outside the bar, naruto at one end of the street, tsunade at the other, tsunade's companion and jiraiya stood to the side, jiraiya looked calm and naruto was thankful that his teacher had faith in his abilities.

"One finger kid!" shouted tsunade holding up a finger.

"One finger for what?" asked naruto perplexed.

"One finger will win this fight" said tsunade, smiling cheekily at the blonde haired boy in front of her.

"Don't underestimate me granny! I'm going to be the hokage one day believe it" cried naruto

_"Granny_" thought tsunade, her eyebrows knotting together in fury, she took a deep breath then asked naruto out loud "Tell me kid, why do you want to become the hokage?".

"Because… becoming the hokage, is my dream" replied naruto matter-of-factly.

Those words had some effect immediately on tsunade, naruto sensed, that the words had thrown the older woman from the battle at hand, and he silently conjured up a rasengan. He remembered the three basic things that are needed to create the rasengan and he focussed on nothing but the ball in his hand, blocking out any outside influences. Finally he was ready and he sprinted towards the big busted woman in front of him.

"What the hell!" tsunade screamed, she had left herself open to naruto's dangerous technique in that split second and naruto had seen it and chose the right moment to attack, he was hopeful that he was going to be the first genin ever to triumphant over one of the legendary sannin, but his dreams came crashing down in a second.

Tsunade quickly side stepped the attack, took hold of naruto's wrist and brought it down with the rasengan to the ground, there was a big explosion, naruto and tsunade were thrown back by the explosive force of the technique. What was left where they had been fighting, was a gigantic crater that had narrowly avoided hitting tsunade.

"Jiraiya-who-the-hec-is-this-kid?" asked tsunade picking herself slowly off the ground; she had scars on her arms because she had landed on both arms to stop herself from being taken too far away from the vicinity.

"This is naruto uzumaki, my new apprentice" stated jiraiya, then added "Amazing isn't he?"

"The fourth took 5 years to learn that technique, even you, only managed it in that same time as well" said tsunade staggering slightly "Aren't you afraid that he might surpass you like how orochimaru surpassed sarutobi sensei".

"Naruto isn't like that, orochimaru was different, you know that" said jiraiya.

"Orochimaru? That snake freak, you were on the same team as him?" asked naruto stunned.

"Indeed we were, he was once a leaf shinobi like all of us" explained jiraiya.

Naruto's mouth opened to form the words "what" very slowly when he heard that orochimaru was once from the leaf village, the same village like him.

"Oi kid!" shouted a voice, calling naruto immediately out of his reverie.

"Don't get too cocky, I wasn't expecting the rasengan at all, but believe me, we'll have another fight one day, here let me give you something" sniggered tsunade, she began to untie a necklace that was wrapped around her neck.

"NO LADY TSUNADE DON'T!" cried tsunade's companion.

"Its okay shizune, it's been with me too long, it needs a new owner now" said tsunade, she walked slowly towards naruto and held it out waiting for him to take it.

"Just what is that exactly?" asked naruto suspiciously.

"A necklace given to me by the first hokage, it's supposed to be very lucky" said tsunade.

Naruto looked carefully at the necklace then carefully looked back at tsunade who was surprisingly walking away from him and jiraiya.

"Tsunade, I still don't have a reason why you are not returning with us to the leaf village!" yelled jiraiya.

"I've given my answer, I need some sleep so do me a favour and bog off" answered tsunade.

"HEY AT LEAST TURN AND LOOK AT US WHEN WE'RE TALKING TO YOU, YOU OLD GRANDMA!" shouted naruto. This woman had been getting on his nerves; the way in how she talked to jiraiya was ticking naruto off enormously, even though sometimes the old perverted teacher deserved it at times, but naruto was damned if he was going to let a complete stranger talk to his teacher like that.

Suddenly before he could do anything, however, tsunade had flash stepped behind naruto, naruto turned and he was immediately seeing stars because tsunade had flicked him painfully on the forehead. His forehead protector came flying off and landed heavily on the ground.

"OW! you're going to pay for that!" moaned naruto, jiraiya had to calmly hold the youngster back from attacking tsunade again.

"Goodnight boys" yawned tsunade and she looked at shizune and signalled for her to follow, and both of them left, leaving jiraiya and naruto alone in the streets, this time leaving a bruise on naruto's forehead.

* * *

><p>"Pervy-sage what are we going to do now?" asked naruto rubbing the bruise on his forehead and picking up his forehead protector ready to put it back on. It had been one flick to the forehead, but it had hurt like crazy.<p>

"We'll stay here, I'll pester her for a while, if that still does not work, we'll follow her, something seems very off about the way she's behaving" whispered jiraiya thoughtfully.

"Other than the major fact that she's 80 and she is a hottie?" asked naruto.

"Oh that's an aging jutsu she's invented, pretty good isn't it? She looks like how she used to look when she was 20, I guess that's how she hides herself these days" explained jiraiya.

"Whatever works I guess" muttered naruto.

"Okay, time to crash out, we have an early start tomorrow, naruto, so get a good sleep" said jiraiya.

* * *

><p>As naruto and jiraiya were preparing for bed that night, there came a knock at the door, naruto boldly went to open it, and it was shizune, tsunade's companion and assistant.<p>

"Hello, I'm sorry to disturb you at such a late hour, but I came to apologize for lady tsunade's behaviour this evening" said shizune solemnly.

"Oh don't you worry, that old bag doesn't upset me" scoffed naruto.

"Don't say such things about lady tsunade! You don't even know her" snapped shizune.

"Okay sister, calm down" said naruto worried.

"Shizune come in, I am interested to know what's bothering her as well" ordered jiraiya.

"Thank you master jiraiya".

"Lady Tsunade has been a great and trusting friend to me for many years" began shizune "My uncle, in case you didn't know, was once lady tsunade's lover, and I believe after his death, and the death of her little brother nawaki, that's when we lost the old lady tsunade"

"She had a little brother, what happened to him? And her lover?" asked naruto astonished.

Naruto looked at both jiraiya and shizune who suddenly had depressed faces.

"Nawaki was only a kid, no older than you naruto, and he desired to become a hokage as well, just like his grandfather- he was killed in battle long ago... tsunade arrived too late to save him" said jiraiya "As for tsunade's lover dan, they courted for two years, he died during another ninja war, this time in tsunade's very arms"

"She has developed a fear of blood, she has never got over either of their deaths" sobbed shizune "At times she goes out alone for long hours of the night, I worry so much for her".

"That's another reason why I had to come here as well, I must warn you, naruto uzumaki about something" said shizune suddenly.

"Huh, about what exactly?" asked naruto nonplussed.

"About that necklace you are wearing, it seems it has some kind of curse on it, the first hokage died wearing it, nawaki and dan wore it and it killed them as well" explained shizune "So I suggest you take it off".

"Come on, do you honestly think I believe in all that voo doo crap?" sneered naruto.

"Naruto-kun please, I'm being very serious about this" pleaded shizune.

"Then I'll die then" said naruto simply "Believe it I ain't scared of dying"

"Naruto-kun you are a very strange boy" chuckled shizune "You look so much like nawaki".

"Shizune, at dinner tonight, tsunade didn't seem at all surprised when I mentioned that the third hokage was dead, why is that so?" asked jiraiya abruptly.

Shizune stopped laughing immediately at the question and fell very silent.

"Please shizune, if tsunade is in danger I need to know at once" pressed jiraiya.

"I'm sorry I must go, lady tsunade might get suspicious, forgive me" said shizune and dashed out of the room.

"That didn't go very well" whispered naruto "I never knew how much she had gone through, I thought she was just a bitter old hag, but now I know she has a reason to be like that".

There was a long silence then jiraiya stood up and stretched himself.

"Hmm, lights out naruto, I've got a MAJORRR headache" yawned jiraiya.

"You shouldn't have drank all that alcohol then!" teased naruto.

Both of them turned off the lights and got into bed.

* * *

><p>The next few days continued the same way, whilst jiraiya practically stalked tsunade day in and day out trying to persuade her to return to the leaf village, naruto started his training again, practising early in the morning and late at night, to be honest, he didn't care whether tsunade came home with them or not, because after what she said in the bar (even though she had a right to be bitter) it still stuck in naruto's gut that she thought that a hokage was a job for idiots, but then again, he did want her to come with them back home just in order to heal sasuke's injuries.<p>

While naruto remained torn about his feelings about tsunade, he was unaware that tsunade had been watching him training behind the bushes at night and sometimes in the afternoon when he caught his 15 minute naps. But naruto, who was so caught up in his training failed to sense her presence.

But after a couple of days, naruto did start to sense a suspicious presence and decided to take a walk and check to see who was following him. The person took to the bait with enthusiasm when naruto left his regular training area for another; he turned a corner, then quickly hid himself in some bushes, and waited for the unknown person to show himself or herself.

Naruto was surprised to see that the person who had been watching him so intensely had been tsunade. She looked pensive, even a bit faraway and deep in serious thought.

"I hope she isn't a paedophile, the pervy sage is pretty perverted" thought naruto, his eyes became big in shock "Oh no! That's it isn't it, this one likes little kids that is why she wants to stay forever young".

"HEY!" screamed naruto appearing immediately out of the bushes, almost starling tsunade, tsunade calmly looked back at him, quite annoyed at having been outwitted by a mere genin, but still remaining curious about the blonde haired boy.

"Hey what kid?" asked tsunade pretending to be innocuous.

"Why are you following me? You old paedophile!" Naruto yelled.

"Paedo- what the bloody hell are you saying!" snapped tsunade eyebrows knotting together in fury.

"Gosh what is wrong with you legendary sannins, first it's the pervy sage and now its you, I'm sorry but I already have someone!" cried naruto.

"The pervy – oh you mean jiraiya, ha-ha, you're very funny, you _do_ know that" said tsunade slowly, and then smiling knowingly "I'm not following you to molest you, now stop shouting before ninja arrive".

"Then why are you watching me?" asked naruto.

Tsunade stopped laughing and went back into her pensive expression; she slowly asked "I'm just wondering naruto, how old are you?"

"13, why?" answered naruto abruptly.

"You are the same age my brother was, before he died" said tsunade, she then turned to naruto again and asked again "And tell me naruto, what would you do if you became hokage?"

"Protect my homeland and all the people in it, they are my family after all, even though they treat me like dirt at times" said naruto "Now are you done with all these questions, I need to get back to training".

"Yes I am, goodbye naruto" said tsunade sweetly, then she did something that completely shocked naruto, she lifted up his forehead protector and placed a kiss on his forehead.

"A kiss for good luck" she said.

Naruto looked at the big breasts appearing in front of his face and simply replied "Thanks"

Before tsunade went however, she called out to naruto one more time, naruto turned around still looking quite surprised and she said "Whoever that girl is that you're waiting for, she is a very lucky girl".

Naruto waited until tsunade rounded the corner and whispered "It's like I'm surrounded by a bunch of perverts believe it!" and he went off to start practicing his jutsu again.

* * *

><p>It was finally their third day of their stay in tanzaku city, and naruto was going to have a shower to prepare for another day of training, he had a towel wrapped around his shoulders and he was walking past jiraiya's futon when he noticed there was something strange about the way in which his sensei was sleeping. Usually jiraiya would wake naruto up first, instead of vice versa, even more so, because jiraiya had went to bed BEFORE naruto did. Plus he was also supposed to be keeping tabs on tsunade. Naruto went over immediately to investigate. He crouched down and began to prod jiraiya hard in the ribs in order to wake him up.<p>

"Oi pervy sage, pervy sage" said naruto , after a while of hard poking and even shaking, naruto become increasingly worried about his teacher, his breathing was now becoming more shallower and he looked more drugged up than asleep.

"SHIZUNE!" cried naruto dashing from the room into shizune's and tsunade's room two floors up, naruto banged on the short, black haired woman's room door, and was relieved to find that she was in the room.

"Quickly Perv- jiraiya-sensei is not waking up! Help me!" babbled naruto wildly. Shizune calmly accompanied naruto back to his hotel room and saw jiraiya lying on the mattress still out cold.

She crouched down and checked the shaggy white haired man's pulse, and then she brought out a bottle with some liquid inside it.

"What is that?" asked naruto fearfully.

"Something to bring him back around, don't you worry naruto-kun" replied shizune, she waved the liquid underneath jiraiya's nostrils and immediately the old man's eyes opened.

"Wha-what is going on" muttered jiraiya sleepily trying to make sense of his surroundings, he saw naruto and shizune and added "Naruto, shizune, what are you doing in a bar?"

"A bar? Pervy-sage you're in our hotel room!" cried naruto.

"Not so loud, why do I feel so weak?" asked jiraiya "I don't even remember coming back here".

"Lucky you did, this type of concoction could have put you into a deep coma" said shizune now worried "But only a medical ninja could have made this up, this is usually used only in hospitals and the dosage is always measured accurately because of its lethal qualities".

"THAT'S IT!" yelled jiraiya receiving an ephiphany "I was talking to tsunade last night, where is she? I was asking her a few questions and she left me saying she wanted to go to bed!"

"Oh no, what day is it?" asked shizune abruptly nearly making both jiraiya and naruto jump in her urgency.

"Err Sunday" replied naruto.

"Oh no she's gone, gone to meet him already!" cried shizune.

"Meet who shizune?" asked jiraiya seriously.

Shizune was kneeling on the ground; her hands firmly on her knees, her hands had turned as pale as a ghost.

"It looks like, although, I tried to talk her out of it, it seems she has gone to meet him after all" whispered shizune to herself.

"WHO FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE?" roared jiraiya.

Shizune shied away from jiraiya's loud voice and then replied "Orochimaru"

"Orochimaru, orochimaru is here, in tanzaku city?" said jiraiya aghast.

"It's like the workings of fate, I always wanted to meet that beast again" hissed naruto punching a fist into his palm determinately.

"Why is orochimaru here shizune? What exactly does he want with tsunade" asked jiraiya.

"He wants her to cure him, he has a curse on his hands, stopping him from performing jutsu, he made a deal with lady tsunade saying that he would resurrect both my uncle Dan and nawaki-kun" answered shizune

"And when he gets his hands back shizune, what is he going to do?" asked jiraiya.

"Destroy-destroy the hidden leaf" stammered shizune and then she began to cry and then wailed "I tried to talk her out of it, believe me I did, I did, I did, I did…. I felt too guilty, my uncle loved that village, and you have to believe me!"

"It's not your fault sister, we'll bring tsunade back believe me" said naruto.

"No you won't, you'll die, just like uncle Dan, because your wearing that necklace, that cursed necklace that has tortured lady tsunade for years!" wailed shizune.

"Believe me I won't die!" said naruto firmly, so firmly and assuring that shizune had to look up at him, she saw something familiar in naruto's eyes immediately, a shadow of a person she once knew, slowly she began to stop crying and nodded.

"Come on naruto, help me up, get dressed, we're going after her, where is she shizune?" ordered jiraiya staggering to his feet.

"I'll take you where they were meeting" replied shizune.

"When will this wear off?" asked jiraiya indicating his body.

"Not long, 5 or 15 minutes" said shizune.

"Great, just great" muttered jiraiya.

* * *

><p>Naruto, shizune and jiraiya were skimming off through the trees moments later heading towards the outskirts of tanzaku city.<p>

"I hope we are not too late" hissed jiraiya gritting his teeth.

Naruto remained silent; his only focus was on getting there as fast as possible and avenging his best friend for the curse mark that this demon, orochimaru, had placed on him.

Little did they know that tsunade and orochimaru stood facing each other quite a distance away ready to hand over their intended techniques.


	30. Chapter 30:The legendary sannin showdown

The legendary sannin showdown chapter 30

Naruto, jiraiya and shizune arrived just in time to see tsunade touching orochimaru's injured hands.

"What is she doing?" asked jiraiya immediately and he smirked "That is definitely not medical ninjutsu".

And jiraiya was right, just before tsunade was about to slice through orochimaru's hands however a fast figure came between them to parry tsunade's hands away from their intended target. It was kabuto.

"Kabuto" seethed naruto grinding his teeth and clenching his fists.

"Come on shizune, naruto!" cried jiraiya and leapt off the tree they were currently on and dashed out onto the open grassy plain.

They arrived on the scene and saw tsunade facing off orochimaru and kabuto.

Orochimaru looked to kabuto in confusion and asked "Kabuto what is the meaning of this?".

"I'm sorry orochimaru-sama, but that was no medical ninjutsu, she meant to rid you off your hands for good" explained kabuto pushing his glasses instinctively up his small button nose.

Orochimaru turned to look at his old friend, his eyes narrowed in anger "So that was your plan all along was it?".

"I wished someone would have put us in the picture though, seriously tsunade what were you thinking?" scolded jiraiya.

"I-I thought I could deal with him on my own, but now that this brat has appeared I'm not quite sure" said tsunade looking at kabuto "No ordinary ninja can block my techniques like that".

"He isn't any old ninja" growled naruto suddenly "His kabuto Yakushi and he is nothing but a liar and a traitor!"

"You know him naruto?" asked jiraiya.

"Know him, he tried to assassinate sasuke!" cried naruto, he pointed at the nonchalant teenager in front of him and continued "I want to fight him, nobody interfere!".

"I guess all the matches are set then, hmm, kabuto you take care of that nine tail brat and I'll deal with jiraiya and tsunade" chuckled orochimaru.

Kabuto looked quite taken aback and affronted at orochimaru's orders "Please orochimaru-sama, let me assist you in this fight, tsunade has superhuman strength along with her medical ninjutsu… I might be able to help you get away as quickly as possible".

"Where are your manners kabuto?" asked orochimaru "I haven't had a reunion with my old acquaintances in such a long long time"

Kabuto stared at his master for a while, his sunglasses thrown opague by the blinding sunlight from above, hiding his eyes, but after a slight pause, kabuto nodded and faced naruto off. Orochimaru, tsunade and jiraiya vanished leaving kabuto and naruto alone to fight.

"How is sasuke by the way?" asked kabuto sardonically.

"Training hard in order to be able to slap that smirk off your traitor face" retorted naruto, he spread himself and clenched his fists, an indication that he was ready for battle.

Kabuto smirked and again slid his glasses up his nose "You are a waste of time, compared to sasuke you are nothing, and you will always be nothing".

"Why don't you come and fight this nothing then?" asked naruto and he made some hand seals.

"Again with the shadow clones? You really are predictable" sneered kabuto and he made some hand seals as well, immediately his hands glowed radiant blue, recognising the familiar technique tsunade had used on orochimaru naruto knew immediately what to do.

"Think I'm that dumb, I know what your trying to do" said naruto.

"Then let's begin then" replied kabuto and as quick as lightening lunged towards naruto, naruto luckily avoided the first jab that kabuto was going to send straight at his chest, naruto expertly escaped to lay a few spaces away from kabuto. Quickly he made his shadow clone seal again (because kabuto had moved so fast naruto had forgotten to use it) and naruto created enough shadow clones to encircle kabuto. Kabuto calmly waited until the shadow clones started to attack him, kabuto nonchalantly jabbed his fingers into each clone but surprisingly when kabuto looked at naruto, he was smiling, in his confusion kabuto stopped attacking and that was when the ground below him opened up and hands attached itself to his legs, two shadow clones behind him took his hands and one had jumped onto his back and wrapped an arm around his neck, chocking him.

"WHAT! HOW! That's an earth style" cried kabuto.

"I learnt that in the academy" said naruto "Now time to finish this" one shadow clone walked towards him.

Naruto started to make his rasengan, slowly as kabuto realised what was coming his way, his eyes widened in horror.

"It can't be" he gasped. But he had no time to defend himself because naruto was thrusting the glowing blue ball straight into his chest. Kabuto screamed as he felt the searing lava like substance goes straight through his skin, breaking his ribs and rupturing a few vital organs as well. The force of the rasengan lifted kabuto up and flung him back 50 metres, where he crashed into a boulder. He hit his head and coughed up some blood from an internal injury. He had also gone numb.

"I've got to hand it to you… naruto uzumaki… you are, such a troublesome brat" gasped kabuto before falling into unconsciousness.

He was not the only one, naruto had used up all his chakra then he was used to and he collapsed to the ground. He cursed himself for his failure; he knew he was going into a coma.

"Sasuke… I'm sorry, i-I been stupid" whispered naruto. The only things he saw before he closed his eyelids, was a purple gigantic snake slithering towards him and jiraiya and tsunade's mouths opening and closing, forming words that he could not hear.

* * *

><p>But when he opened his eyes, days or maybe weeks later, naruto was not in the afterlife he was in a small room with one window and a bed beside his own. Naruto tried to sit up but a gentle hand brought him back down again.<p>

"Easy there, your not in danger" said a female voice. Naruto recognised it immediately and when he head stopped spinning he looked sideways and saw tsunade sitting by his bed.

"What are you doing here granny?" asked naruto dazedly.

"WHAT IS THAT THE THANKS I GET FOR SAVING YOUR LIFE, YOU LITTLE RUNT?" snapped tsunade and she stood up, slightly offended.

"Where's the pervy sage! How long have I been out for?" asked naruto sitting up and looking around the room.

"Two weeks" replied tsunade laughing slightly "The pervy sage?"

"Er Jiraiya I mean, is he by those hot springs again?" asked naruto distractedly as he hopped out of the bed and began to look for his clothes (He was currently in his vest and green boxers).

"Yes unfortunately he is, don't you want to go to the hot springs naruto?" asked tsunade teasingly.

"Hell no! I have to get back to konoha so that I can help sasuke and train to be a hokage" sneered naruto "Plus I'm trying to stick to the three manhood prohibitions"

"I see, ok I'll leave you to get packed and ready, I'm sick of this place too" said tsunade, she stopped when she reached the door however and then turned back to look at naruto, who had his back to her "Naruto…".

"WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG GRANNY?" screamed naruto, he suddenly turned beetroot red because tsunade had kissed him on the forehead.

"Thank you for you know" said tsunade.

"No problem" whispered naruto who had eyes wide because he could only see tsunade's pale breasts.

Tsunade left him to pack and naruto was still in a daze, but he soon snapped out of it when he heard a familiar laugh. The door opened and jiraiya came in wearing a white robe, slippers and holding a bottle of sake in his hands.

"HIII NARUTOOO, WHATUP!" cried his drunken teacher, but jiraiya's eyes soon became as big as saucers when he saw some square, white object come sailing right at him, thinking it was a serious weapon jiraiya dodged it and the object hit the wall beside him and then slid to the ground; it was a pillow.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN YOU BIG OLD PERVERT? WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME? LET ME GUESS YOU WERE FLIRTING WITH WOMEN AND DRINKING ALCOHOL FOR TWO WEEKS? NOW GET READY WE ARE OUT OF HERE!" roared naruto stamping his foot and swinging his arms around frantically.

"Jeez kid take a chill pill will you, we've brought back tsunade, we deserve a rest at least" said jiraiya taking another swig of beer.

"NO NO NO!" shouted naruto.

Naruto got his way in the end, and two hours later they were leaving the hot spring resort, naruto stomping frantically ahead with jiraiya (who had silent tears steaming down his face) and a calm tsunade walking behind him.

"Man he is a determined little fool isn't he" commented tsunade.

"He is, oh he is" sulked jiraiya.

* * *

><p>They reached konoha in two days. It was evening when they reached the gates, all the shops that were facing the main entrance were shut, street cleaners were out and only a few villagers.<p>

"Okay the hospital is this way!" announced naruto pointing in the direction of the konoha hospital.

"Easy there champ, tsunade has to report to the elders first" said jiraiya.

"What! But what about sasuke?" asked naruto astounded.

"I'll come and see him tomorrow morning straight away naruto, I promise" answered tsunade leaning forward to look at naruto.

"Fine" naruto sulked.

Jiraiya and tsunade bade him goodbye, but instead of going straight home, naruto decided to check up on his best friend first.

He opened the door to sasuke's hospital room and was amazed (but not surprised) to see sakura placing some flowers in the empty vase, beside the uchiha's sick bed.

"Sakura" gasped naruto.

Sakura jumped in slight fear, but she turned, saw naruto, and ran forward slightly to embrace him.

"Oh naruto! When did you get back?" asked sakura aghast.

"Just now, you don't think I'll be back in konoha and not look up on him do you?" said naruto jokingly "How has he been?"

"Waking up and going back to sleep, the nurses say its expected when someone has been in shock" whispered sakura as if afraid to disturb the sleeping uchiha.

"Me and pervy sage found someone to cure him, she's coming tomorrow" said naruto excitedly.

"Oh thank goodness, well, I've been here all day, so I'm going home, call on me tomorrow, I'll like to see and meet this new medical ninjutsu specialist" explained sakura as she started to wobble from sleep, she was about to go when she stopped and added "By the way where did you find her?".

"In tanzaku city, orochimaru was after her you know" said naruto.

"Orochimaru! That creep, why won't he leave us all alone?" snapped sakura.

"Because he wants to destroy konoha, he has a grudge against the whole village because he did not become hokage" said naruto "And I'm sorry to say this – I wasn't going to tell you, but he wants sasuke, sakura".

"SASUKE! But what for" cried sakura.

"Shh! Because of sasuke's sharingan, believe it, that guy has gone jutsu crazy, he wants all sasuke's powers or he wants sasuke to work for him" whispered naruto.

"We must tell the new hokage about this straight away, he, orochimaru, needs to be stopped" replied sakura petrified.

"She knows, the new medical specialist, she's going to be our new hokage!" exclaimed naruto.

"That's good then, I really have to go though naruto, so goodnight" said sakura simply, although naruto knew she was slightly disturbed about something, she hugged naruto and left without another word.

Naruto grabbed the chair that sakura had probably vacated a few moments ago and pulled it closer to his best friend's bed.

"I'm here sasuke, you'll be out of there sooner or later, then we will sort out itachi, those akatsuki guys, and then I'll be hokage and you will be the head of the police force again, or even deputy hokage to yours truly!" said naruto cheerily. But his smile faded because the uchiha was not going to reply, his eyes were closed and his mouth was slightly open.

"Are you talking to yourself naruto?" asked a strained voice. Naruto looked around and saw a curtain that hid another hospital bed behind him.

"Ka-kakashi sensei?" asked naruto. He went over and pulled back the opague white curtains and saw his sensei languidly resting on the hospital bed.

"Haha, sensei you look like a great ragdoll!" laughed naruto.

"You said that the new medical ninja had arrived? Who is she? What does she look like" asked kakashi.

"Well she's supposed to be an old nanny, but she looks like she's 20, her name is tsunade, she is one of the legendary sannin" explained naruto non-plussed grabbing a chair next to his sensei's bed.

"So…she has returned" whispered kakashi.

"Do you want anything to drink sensei? Or eat" asked naruto.

"Please naruto" said kakashi suddenly grabbing naruto's arm "Do not, I repeat, do not give me anymore of THAT!" he pointed to the food trolley beside his bed.

"I guess you'll be wanting some ramen after all this ay?" asked naruto smiling brightly at his sensei. Kakashi only patted the boy's arm in reply and was back off to sleep again.

The next day, naruto woke up early, went a couple of blocks to sakura's house, and walked with his teammate back to the konoha hospital, they got there in time to see sasuke's hospital room full of doctors and nurses, and tsunade herself preparing her hand seals, beginning her examination of sasuke.

"Good morning granny!" cried naruto brightly.

"SHH! Narutoo" said tsunade gritting her teeth.

"She needs concentration you fool" scolded sakura. Naruto hung his head at his dizziness.

Tsunade roamed her hands over sasuke's body, she closed her eyes and there was silence in the room, even kakashi was craning his head to look at what she was doing, it seemed to take an eternity before tsunade removed her hands on sasuke's body, and then she rested one of her hands on the boy's forehead. That took another 15/20 minutes. Suddenly there came a small moan and naruto and sakura gasped in surprise when they saw sasuke's eyelids flicker and he opened his eyes. The boy took a while to sit up, and tsunade had to help him with that, but the procedure was done and tsunade released her jutsu.

"SASUKE!" shouted both naruto and sakura and they both flung themselves at the uchiha heir. Sasuke's eyes widened slightly at the surprising show of affection, but they still held their dull like expression.

"He'll be out of it just a while longer, that jutsu he was put under was quite a heavy genjutsu, who did it?" asked tsunade, she now stood at the end of sasuke's bed, her hands on her hips looking straight at naruto for an explanation.

"Itachi uchiha, he came back here with this group called the akatsuki, and sasuke tried to fight him, he has been trying to avenge the deaths of his clan for ages, sometimes to the point of death and nobody has ever seen it necessary to hunt down that freak!" hissed naruto looking at tsunade.

"When the village has been rebuilt and security gets back on its feet, I'll reopen the case I promise you that" said tsunade.

"Thank you ever so much my lady" whispered sakura shyly.

"If a hokage can't even uphold justice, what kind of hokage am i?" asked tsunade.

Naruto crossed his arms and nodded fervently at that statement.

"Well, I guess it's your turn now kakashi" said tsunade cheerfully and she went over to attend to kakashi.

* * *

><p>The past few weeks fell into a routine, sasuke was well again (that is, he had gained consciousness) but he was still feeling weak, so he was ordered to stay in hospital for the minimum of two more weeks. Naruto felt it best to bring him meals from home, all his favourites like dangos and stews that the uchiha favoured, one time, naruto thought it would be funny to play a prank on the uchiha and sneak him some ramen instead. When naruto was about to leave the room, however, the pot of ramen came crashing into the back of his head signalling the uchiha's displeasure.<p>

But finally the evening came when naruto heard the click of his flat's main door opening, naruto stood up and nearly weapt in joy when he saw sasuke staggering through the door with a suitcase in his hands.

"SASUKEEEE!" cried naruto, he was about to embrace his friend but the uchiha slapped naruto in the face, naruto fell to the ground feeling hurt, he rubbed his face while he stared up at sasuke, wondering if the uchiha hated him because of what itachi had done. But sasuke closed the door and turned to naruto, with a slight smile on his face.

"Brothers?" asked sasuke reaching out his fists to bump fists with him. Naruto nodded and bumped fists with his friend.

"BUT IF YOU EVER PUNCH ME LIKE THAT AGAIN, I'M TAKING YOUR ARSE BACK OUT OF MY FLAT!" roared naruto from the ground. Sasuke sighed and held naruto by the arm and yanked him off the ground and their bodies slammed together into an awkward hug.

"Thank you naruto, for trying to save my life" whispered sasuke in naruto's ear.

"You heard? Because I did try to help, but you said it was your fight so" began naruto.

"I know, I was stupid" answered sasuke.

Naruto was chuffed that sasuke was able to admit that he had done something stupid.

The next day was the hokage's coronation, there was a fireworks display, all the eating stalls were opened and the whole village had gathered at the gates of the hokage's tower to wave up to the figure standing on Hokage Mountain. Tsunade was adorned in the traditional hokage garb, with hat as well. Loudly she recited her vows that every hokage must say before they are instated.

At the end of her speech, naruto and sasuke (who had turned up with sakura) turned and saw sakura crying with silent awe while looking at the hokage.

"Sakura why are you crying?" asked sasuke.

"She's an inspiration" mouthed sakura, too chocked up even to speak.

"Women" whispered naruto and sasuke together


End file.
